Safe House
by Ianthe Brennan
Summary: AU/HUMANVERSE On the run, the Mikaelson's need a place to lay low while Klaus recovers from their latest heist. Fortunately for them, Caroline Forbes has the house to herself for the weekend.
1. Chapter 1

"Oh, you're not Tyler."

Caroline's hand immediately flew up to cover her mouth, flushing with embarrassment.

The boy standing on the other side of her door shook his head, smiling. "Sorry to disappoint." He looked to be about her age, with dark hair and eyes, but she was sure he wasn't from Mystic Falls. Caroline prided herself on knowing everyone at Mystic Falls High.

"Sorry," she said, feeling ridiculous in her little black dress and heels. "I was just expecting someone else."

He nodded, taking a moment to look her over from head to toe. Caroline's eyes narrowed slightly, and she straightened. "Can I help you?"

He didn't immediately look back up, and Caroline bristled. Normally she'd take it as a compliment, but Tyler was going to show up at any minute and she didn't have time to deal with a jealous boyfriend.

"I was just hoping I could use your phone," he said. "Car trouble."

Caroline looked over his shoulder, seeing a dark van parked at the side of the road. She couldn't be sure, but for a moment it looked like there was someone moving inside it.

"Um, sure. Just wait here," she said, pasting a smile on her face before she shut the door, sliding the lock in place as silently as possible. If there was one thing having a Sheriff for a mom had taught her, it was how to look out for yourself when you're home alone. It had taken Caroline almost a full month to persuade her mom to visit her sister in Wisconsin and leave Caroline alone for a weekend, and she wasn't going to let some little twerp ruin that for her.

She made her way towards the phone in the kitchen when she felt a breeze. She stopped suddenly, hair standing on end. She was sure she hadn't left any windows open. She remained silent, listening for anything out of the ordinary.

Nothing.

"Get a hold of yourself," she muttered, moving to take another step forward when she heard the floor creak behind her. Her eyes widened and before she knew what was happening she was dashing into the kitchen towards the back door. She was less than a foot away when she felt a tug on her ankle sending her sprawling towards the floor. She hit it hard, and just before everything went black she thought about how her mother was never going to let her stay home alone again.

l

"Gently, Kol. No need to cause more damage than Rebekah already did."

Kol dropped the blonde girl non-too gently on the smaller of the two couches in the living room. "I don't see why it matters," he sniped, crouching down next to her and letting his hand wonder down to where her dress had ridden up her thigh. "Not like she can feel anything." His hand didn't reach its destination as Kol was sent sprawling onto his back.

"Don't be gross," Rebekah said, standing over him with her arms crossed over her chest. "Now go help Elijah with Nik."

Kol jumped up, glaring at his sister as brushed by her, and followed Elijah out the door. Rebekah looked over the girl passed out on the couch. "Poor thing," she mumbled, leaning over to tug her dress down to cover her legs. She brushed her hair aside, showing a red welt which would surely form a nasty bruise by morning.

"Rebekah! The door!"

She rolled her eyes at the annoyed tone of Kol's words and took her time making her way to the front door. The moment she swung it open she was met with another glare from Kol. "Took you long enough," he muttered, struggling to hold Nik's legs. Elijah, holding most of the weight, rolled his eyes and Rebekah had to fight the urge to laugh.

She opened the door as far as it would go and made a grand sweeping gesture towards the inside of the house. Nik's head was resting against Elijah's shoulder while Elijah's arms encircled his torso, so he backed into the house first. Kol stumbled in afterwards, nearly dropping his load twice.

"There's a bedroom on the main floor, just around the corner to the right," Elijah said, already moving in that direction. Kol grunted, following his brother's lead as Rebekah closed and locked the door behind them. No sooner had they placed their unconscious brother on the bed than the doorbell rang.

"Parents?" Elijah said, looking towards the living room.

"Probably the boyfriend. That's who she was expecting when she opened the door," Kol said, turning to answer the door. "I'll handle it."

Elijah's hand against his chest stopped him. "Let Rebekah. No need for any more violence tonight." He nodded to Rebekah. "You're her cousin, in for a surprise visit for the weekend. If we're lucky, the fact that she was expecting her boyfriend means she isn't expecting anyone else at least until tomorrow."

"On it," Rebekah said, backing out of the room.

"His name's Tyler," Kol called after her.

She peeked through the window beside the door, taking in the dark haired boy on the other side. She ran a hand through her hair, taking in a deep breath before unlocking and opening the door.

His eyes widened as he took her in, before flicking to the house number above the door, reassuring himself he was at the right place. "Um… is Caroline home?"

"It's Tyler, right?" she said sweetly, leaning against the door as casually as she could. "I'm so sorry to crash your date, I wanted to surprise Caroline and didn't think she might already have plans."

"Oh," Tyler said, shoulders dropping in disappointment. "So you're like a friend from out of town? Can I talk to her?"

"Her cousin actually," she said, giving him her most captivating smile. "Becca. She actually just went out to grab some snacks, she's gonna be so disappointed she missed you."

"Right." She could see his demeanor change slightly, annoyance and anger flashing in his eyes. "Well, just tell her I was here." He shuffled his feet, turning to leave when Rebekah suddenly reached out, her hand circling his arm.

"Please don't be angry with her," she heard herself say. "It's totally my fault, she was actually really upset that she had to cancel her plans with you." She stepped closer to him, her fingers stroking the inside of his arms gently. "She really cares about you."

Tyler had gone completely still. He looked down at where her hand lay on his arm, than back up at her. "Um… okay."

Rebekah smiled, stepping right against him and wrapping him in a hug. She brought her lips against his ear, breathing out a 'thank you' before pressing a kiss against his cheek and stepping back. Tyler looked at a loss for how to react. "Nice to meet you Tyler."

Tyler took the dismissal for what it was, so bewildered by what had happened that as he began backing off the porch he almost fell down the stairs before catching himself. He flushed with embarrassment as he turned and headed for his car.

Rebekah leaned against the doorframe, watching him go with a self-satisfied grin. That grin was wiped from her face the moment she closed the door and saw Kol smirking at her.

"Just couldn't resist, could you?" he snarked.

"Shut up Kol," she said, making sure to shove him as she walked by. "There's no reason for us to ruin this poor girls relationship."

"So that wasn't you trying to steal her boyfriend?"

She reached for the vase on the hall table to chuck at his head when Elijah's hand encircled her wrist. "That's enough," he said, and Rebekah felt foolish at his disapproving gaze. Kol leaned back against the wall, schooling his features to look bored and annoyed. "We need to find out how long we have here before someone else comes to visit."

A devilish smile broke out on Kol's face. "Let's wake sleeping beauty."

l

"Don't poke her!"

"And how do you suggest we wake her up, oh wise one?"

"You don't have to be mean about it."

Caroline heard them speaking around her, felt someone brush her hair out of her face. Her head was throbbing and her whole body felt sore. She couldn't remember where she was or how she had gotten here, and the voices above her just made her more confused. She tried to open her eyes, but the light only made her head ache worse.

"Elijah, she's waking up!"

She winced, the sound so loud she felt like it bounced around inside her head. Then another voice, gentler and more refined than the two that were arguing before, broke the silence.

"Go tend to Niklaus."

She heard movement, assumed that the first two had left, and attempted to open her eyes again. Her lashes fluttered, letting in a small amount of light at first, then began to focus on her surroundings. She was in her living room, lying on the couch. A young man, at least a few years older than her, was sitting on the coffee table across from her. She felt herself panic, struggling to move herself into an upright position.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, the personification of calmness. "You shouldn't move too quickly, you've probably got a concussion."

Her hand shot up to her head, feeling the raw patch just under her hairline. She pressed on it lightly and winced. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice shakier then she would have liked.

"My name is Elijah Michaelson. I apologize for the rough manner in which my sister treated you, I assure you it will not happen again."

Caroline pushed herself into a sitting position, clenching her teeth against the urge to throw up as her stomach protested the move. She took in a few deep breathes, Elijah watching her the entire time. She leaned back into the couch, trying to will the pounding in her head away so she could make sense of her current predicament.

"Can I get you anything?"

Caroline's eyes widened, and she started to laugh. "I'm being held hostage in my own home, and you want to know if I want anything?" Hearing the words out loud brought on a fit of giggles, and soon she was laughing so hard her eyes were watering. She saw the boy from earlier and a blonde girl peek into the room, looking confused and more than a little worried, bringing on a fresh round of laughter. Through it all, Elijah sat calmly in front of her, the only indication that he was aware of what was happening was a slight upturn of his lips. Once she was down to only a few errant giggles, Elijah stood.

"We should take care of your head."

She felt a second wave of laughter building inside her chest, but she fought to keep it down as the reality of her situation sunk in.

"Why are you here?"

Elijah smiled, holding out a hand to her. "I'll explain everything."

She felt like she was having an out of body experience, watching herself place her hand in his, letting him lead her into the kitchen, sitting on the chair he pulled out for her. She was starting to feel light headed, something resembling a floating sensation. Elijah pressed a cold compress against her head, and was startled to realize she didn't remember seeing him get it from the freezer. In fact, she couldn't remember anything after being seated. Suddenly she was overwhelmed by how tired she felt. The next moment she felt her eyes slip shut, and then there was nothing.

l

Elijah saw the glazed look in her eyes just before she blacked out and managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Nice catch," Kol said, strolling towards the fridge. "So do we need to be prepared for more guests?"

"Didn't get that far," Elijah said, scooping an arm under her legs and cradling her against his chest.

"Becca found a first aid kit and changed Klaus' bandages but he's still out. Doesn't look like he's in any shape to be moved again, not for a couple days at least," Kol said, selecting a bottle of beer and then struggling to open it.

"Well, I have a feeling we'll be safe for the night, but just in case I'll take first watch. Put the van in the garage, then you and Becca get some sleep upstairs," Elijah said, making his way to the bedroom with the girl in his arms.

"Where are you putting her?"

"With Klaus."

"Elijah."

He turned, seeing the look of concern on Kol's face. He refused to meet Elijah's eyes, refused to let him see the fear in them.

"They won't find us Kol."

"Klaus said that last time, and look where we are."

"We'll be smarter this time."

"Elijah…"

"Kol, take care of the car and get some sleep. We'll talk in the morning."

Kol nodded, peeling the label from his bottle. "Yeah, yeah." He watched Elijah leave the room, shaking his head and muttering under his breath, "Hope you're right, brother. Hope you're right."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Caroline woke with a start. She took in her surroundings, realizing she was in the guest bedroom on the main floor. There was a steady ache in her head which brought to light the events of the night before. She moved her hands to push herself up against the headboard when she felt someone beside her. She pulled back as if she had been burned, her eyes widening as she took in the man lying next to her.

The first thing she noticed was that he wasn't wearing a shirt. The second was that he wasn't wearing a shirt because he had bandages piled onto his torso that were tinged pink from blood. She rolled onto her side towards him slowly, afraid that even the subtlest movement would wake him. She guessed he was younger than Elijah, but older then herself and the boy at her door. There was something familiar about all of them, and Caroline remembered how Elijah had mentioned that his sister was the one who had tripped her earlier. Maybe they were all related. That would certainly explain why they were all so attractive, a thought that made Caroline flush with embarrassment.

"I apologize if my state of undress makes you uncomfortable."

She jumped at the sound of his voice, gravelly from misuse, her eyes flicking up to his face. He was looking right at her.

She could feel herself getting redder, biting out "it doesn't," and fighting the urge to look away and prove his point.

His lips quirked up and he let out a brief chuckle before wincing in pain. Caroline sat up immediately, her hands hovering just over him.

"Nothing you can do, love," he said.

She fought against a blush at the endearment, focusing her attention on his bandaged side. "They need to be changed. You could get infected."

"I must confess, while your concern is appreciated, it's certainly not warranted considering my siblings broke into your house and gave you that nasty bruise," he said, his hand ghosting over the bruise on her forehead. Caroline caught herself leaning into his touch and jumped back, nearly tumbling off the bed in her rush.

"Careful princess," the boy from last night said, leaning against the bedroom door and wearing a knowing grin that told her he had been watching them for a while.

His presence was a much needed reality check, reminding her of her current predicament. She needed to find a way out of here while she still could. She quickly looked around the room for something she could use to defend herself, but her thoughts must have been clearly displayed across her face because before she even had both feet on the floor, the boy was around the bed and had a firm grip on her arm.

"Gentle Kol," the man on the bed said, his voice cold and commanding. "That's no way to treat our hostess."

"I don't have to listen to you Klaus," Kol growled, but nonetheless his grip loosened on her.

"Of course you do, little brother. Now run along and get some fresh bandages," Klaus said. His tone was practically glacial, in stark contrast to the warm tone he'd used with her just seconds earlier. Kol immediately dropped her arm, glaring at her fiercely, but leaving the room without so much as a glance to his brother. Caroline was left with the feeling that she had severely underestimated the man before her, and her entire situation. While Elijah had made her fell calm in spite of the craziness of her situation, Klaus was a storm of emotion that set her off kilter. With Kol out of the room and Klaus incapacitated, she decided that this was her opportunity to make a run for it.

Yet, once again, she had barely taken a step towards the door when a hand encircled her wrist. Much to her surprise, Klaus had sat up to grab her, his other arm pressing the bandages firmly against his stomach. She could tell he was in pain from the firm set of his jaw, but his voice was steady as he said, "I wouldn't if I were you," and tugged her back onto the bed.

Caroline wasn't expecting him to be quite so strong in his condition, and found herself half splayed across his lap. She struggled to move off of him, but he refused to let go of her wrist as he lay back down, forcing her to place her captive hand on the opposite side of him to keep herself from lying fully on top of him. She found herself awkwardly hovering across his chest, unsure of where to place her free hand without pressing against his bandages. His eyes fluttered closed, but his grip remained firm, so Caroline was forced to make herself as comfortable as possible, curling her legs up under her to balance her weight better. She felt ridiculous.

"I see you've met my brother."

Caroline looked up to see Elijah standing at the door, looking calm as ever. She felt herself blush, uncomfortable being seen in such an embarrassing position.

"You can let her go, Klaus. She isn't going anywhere," Elijah said. It disturbed Caroline how relieved she was that Elijah was now here. She wondered briefly if it was possible that she had that syndrome thing that made you sympathetic to your kidnappers.

"I quite like her where she is," Klaus said, and Caroline was so close she felt the words as a rumble in his chest that made her squirm uncomfortably. She tugged on her wrist, attempting to at least put some space between them.

"I won't run."

Klaus' eyes snapped open, locking on hers. "Is that right, sweetheart? I let you go and you'll stay right where you are?" Caroline wanted to protest against staying in her current position, but his thumb was rubbing back and forth against her wrist and she was having trouble focusing on anything other than that. Well, that and the fact that he had called her by yet another term of endearment, so she found herself simply nodding in agreement.

Klaus smiled sweetly at her, releasing her wrist but placing his hand just beside hers on the bed. Caroline could feel the heat in her cheeks spread down her chest, sure she was approaching tomato red.

"Klaus, there isn't time."

"All we have is time, Elijah. Now I assume there's something you wanted to speak to me about?"

"Actually, I'm here for her. I promised her an explanation for last night, and I'm here to make due on that promise."

"Is that so," Klaus said. Caroline didn't miss the hint of a threat in his voice, a stark reminder that there was more to this man than met the eye. "Why don't you let me handle that," he said, and there was no doubt he wasn't asking for permission.

Unlike Kol, Elijah didn't just back down. "I think we should let Caroline decide," he said.

Caroline started at hearing her name coming from his lips. "How do you know my name?"

Elijah and Klaus shared a silent look, and whatever passed between them seemed to dissolve the remaining tension in the room. Kol chose that moment to appear at the door, bandages in hand.

"Kol, give Caroline the bandages, than go get Rebekah and meet me in the kitchen," Elijah said before turning to Klaus. "I'll give you a few minutes, than we need to talk about our next move."

Klaus nodded, and Elijah waited for Kol to place the bandages on the bed beside Klaus before following him out of the room. Silence stretched between them, Caroline unsure of what she was expected to do and Klaus overcome by exhaustion from his earlier actions. Not one for uncomfortable situations, Caroline was the first to break the silence.

"You want me to change your bandages?"

Klaus placed his hand closer to her so that his fingers were brushing against hers. "That would be the idea, love."

Caroline took in a deep breath, choosing her words carefully. "I'll help you, but then you have to do something for me."

Klaus' eyes sparked with interest. "And what would that be?"

"You have to tell me why you're here, and how you know my name," she said, insanely proud of how steady she was able to keep her voice. "And no more loves or sweethearts, or touching me without asking."

He responded by full out laughing, his hand falling away from hers. Caroline was a little offended that he wasn't taking her seriously, and moved back to her side of the bed. Klaus quieted at her sudden movement, but didn't try to stop her.

"I'll answer your questions, but I can't promise much detail," he said, his gaze contemplative. "There are certain things that would be better left unsaid, for your own safety. As for the other things, I will do my best to respect your wishes." He paused for a moment. "Caroline."

If hearing Elijah say her name was strange, hearing it on Klaus' tongue was just plain unnerving. She reached over him to collect the fresh bandages, deciding that the best way to stay focused on finding a way out of this situation was to keep her hands busy while she learned as much as she could about what got her here in the first place.

"So how did Elijah know my name?" she asked, peeling back the layers of old bandage.

"We needed a place to lay low, and the last place anyone would look would be the Sheriffs house," Klaus said. "I presume your father is the Sheriff?"

Caroline tossed the old bandages into the trashcan beside the bed, shaking her head. "My mother."

"Ah. Elijah probably had Rebekah go into the station to find out who the Sheriff was, which would probably have included some conversation about her family, which would have led to information about where she lived, either from an over talkative deputy or a computer when no one was looking."

Rebekah the sister, the one who she had to thank for the probably ginormous bruise on her head. "You've done this before," she said, more a statement then a question. She had begun to tear open a fresh packet of gauze, keeping her eyes off the gruesome looking cut across his left abdomen. There were rough looking stiches holding it together, with dark brown patches of dried blood along the thread. Pieces of dried blood that had begun to scab over were cracked in some areas, allowing fresh red blood to seep out, probably from when he'd sat up to grab hold of her. Caroline didn't like dealing with blood, but having dated football players (and being that her current boyfriend was on the team) had helped her develop a strong stomach for all sorts of nasty things.

"We have," he said, watching her expression closely. "You can ask."

She looked up at him, curiosity getting the better of her. "How did this happen?"

"My father shot me."

Caroline couldn't stop herself from letting out a gasp. "What … why would your father shoot you?"

"I'm afraid that's one part of the story I can't share with you," Klaus said. "All I can tell you, is that there was an altercation that resulted in my being shot, and us all needing a place to stay where no one would find us for a few days."

Caroline nodded mechanically, trying to wrap her head around the idea of a father shooting his own son. She placed the fresh gauze against his wound, pressing lightly to soak up the fresh blood. Once the area was clean she piled on the rest of the bandages, using surgical tape to keep them tight against his skin.

"Thank you, Caroline," he said, his eyes fluttering briefly from all the exhertion. "Now, I'll need to speak with my brother alone."

Caroline nodded, not quite sure what he expected her to do, when Elijah knocked on the door.

"I'd like a moment with my brother," he said, motioning towards the kitchen. "Kol's attempted to make some pancakes, if you're hungry."

The image of Kol making pancakes was enough to snap her out of her stupor. "I didn't get all the answers I was promised."

Elijah nodded, gazing down at Klaus, who looked as though he had drifted off to sleep. "I promised you answers, and I will keep my word as soon as I'm done."

She didn't know why, but she felt compelled to trust him. So she nodded, and brushed past him towards the kitchen. Before she had gone too far, his voice stopped her.

"I meant what I said last night, I will not hurt you. So long as you do as I say, no harm will come to you."

Caroline shivered slightly at the chill his words held, for the first time seeing the similarity between him and Klaus. One moment, his words were comforting, and the next they held a threat she had no doubt he could carry out. Above all else, they seemed willing to do whatever it took to keep their family safe.

Caroline only hoped she would be able to figure out what it is they wanted before they no longer had use for her, and she became one more thing between their family and safety.

TBC

A/N - I am totally overwhelmed by all the review and alerts I got for this! Thank you so much for the feedback. I know this chapter is a little short, but I have a ton of exams next week and I'm trying to get as much of this up before I go into hermit-study mode. I'll try to get the next chapter up before then, but I make no promises.


	3. Chapter 3

Elijah watched Caroline make her way into the kitchen, listened for Kol and Rebekah to stop bickering as they became aware of her presence, and once he was sure she was going to continue playing along for the time being he made his way into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

"She is a welcome surprise," Klaus said.

"That she is," Elijah said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "You're looking much better."

Klaus smiled, hearing the underlying concern in Elijah's words. "How bad was it?"

Elijah glanced down at his bandaged side. "The bullet shattered, I wasn't sure I had gotten all of it out."

A simple nod was all Klaus needed to convey his thanks, aware of the weight his brother must have been carrying since his shooting. "What day is it?"

"Saturday."

Klaus grimaced, calculating that he'd been out for two days, ever since the heist went bad on Thursday. "Where are we?"

"Mystic Falls."

"Why does that name sound familiar?" The question had barely left his lips when his eyes widened in recognition. "The Salvatores."

Elijah nodded. "Word is they've been laying low since the incident in Chicago."

"Which means they'll be at the boarding house," Klaus said, his expression darkening. "Wonderful. Perhaps they can shed some light on how Mikael found us."

Elijah raised his eyebrows. "You know who led Mikael to us, and it wasn't either of the Salvatore brothers."

"Perhaps," Klaus said. "But if Katerina was foolish enough to give us away, the fastest way to find her is through the brothers Salvatore."

"I thought you would say that," Elijah said. "I'll take Rebekah to pay them a visit. Discreetly, of course. Mikael no doubt has someone watching them."

"And leave me to babysit Kol?" Klaus said, disgust showing on his face.

"I think you have it the other way around," the corners of Elijah's lips turning up in amusement at Klaus' reaction. "I'm sure he'd rather come with me and Rebekah, but you aren't strong enough yet to watch Caroline on your own. You know Damon won't have anything to do with Kol, not after New York. Rebekah, on the other hand, seems to have made an impression on the younger Salvatore, and we can use that to our advantage."

Klaus didn't seem pleased by what he was hearing, but as usual, Elijah's reasoning was sound. "What about the Sheriff? Should we be expecting her to return anytime soon?"

"The calendar on the fridge seems to indicate she won't be back until tomorrow night, but I'll have Caroline call her to confirm that," Elijah said.

"I doubt I'll be ready for another move by then."

"We'll handle that when we have to. For now, you need to rest. I'll wake you when Rebekah and I return," Elijah said as he rose from the bed. "And Niklaus…"

"There's no point in saying it Elijah."

"Kol knows what he did was wrong."

"Yet that didn't stop him from doing it."

"You can't punish him forever."

"You would have me forgive him, without consequence? I almost died, _Rebekah_ almost died!"

"I forgave you."

A heavy silence filled the room.

"If you don't let go of your anger, how can you expect him to once he finds out…"

Klaus quickly cut him off, "You gave me your word you, Elijah."

"And he will not hear it from me. But he will find out, Klaus. You know how these things always come to light."

Klaus contemplated Elijah's words carefully, struggling to keep from letting his anger at his lack of control over his siblings override his thoughts. Elijah was just so frustratingly _logical_, it made it hard to be angry at anything he said, no matter how contrary he felt. The fact that he was right most of the time only added to his frustration.

"Get some sleep Niklaus," Elijah said, reaching for the door handle.

"Elijah."

He tugged the door open but paused to turn back to his brother.

"Do you think they'll forgive me?"

It was rare moments like these, when Klaus left himself completely open and vulnerable, that Elijah was reminded of happier times. Before their mother had died and Mikael had split their family apart. Back then, Kol and Klaus had been the best of friends, always dragging him and Rebekah into whatever trouble they could ratchet up. They weren't so jaded, but then they also weren't hiding from their own father.

"I did."

Klaus nodded, wearing a sad smile. "Thank you, Elijah."

l

"That's too much Kol."

"It is not Becca."

"There's more chocolate in there then batter."

"What do you have against chocolate?"

"It's going to burn in the pan."

"Chocolate melts, Becca."

"And then it _burns_, Kol."

Caroline sat at her kitchen table, unsure of how to react to the circus act unfolding before her eyes. It made it hard for her to take her situation seriously when her captors were acting like teenagers. Which, to be fair, they most likely were. She briefly wondered if she would be able to make it to the front door before they noticed.

"How old are you?"

Both siblings turned to stare at her, giving Caroline the impression that they had in fact forgotten that she was present. She cursed herself for not taking the opportunity to make a run for it, blaming it on the combination of the strangeness of the situation and her head wound.

"19," Kol said. "She's 17."

"Why do you care?" Rebekah asked, appearing genuinely curious.

"It's just… weird being held hostage in my own home by people my own age."

"Well, you're 17, which means that I am, in fact, your senior," Kol said, dropping a large amount of batter into a frying pan sizzling with butter on the stove. "And while you and Becca might be the same age, I guarantee she has experienced more then you ever will in your lifetime."

"How do you know how old I am?"

"He went through your wallet last night," Rebekah said, moving to take the seat across from Caroline at the table.

"Have you held people hostage before?"

"Yes," Rebekah said, "but they've never been quite as co-operative as you. Why haven't you tried harder to escape?"

It was a good question, one Caroline had been asking herself regularly since waking up this morning. "I guess the whole situation is just too surreal. Plus, if I did try to leave, I'd probably end up with another concussion. Or tied up in the basement."

"True," Kol said, attempting to flip the pancake by tossing it out of the pan and catching it. He failed miserably, only catching half the pancake in the pan, the other half hanging over the edge for less than a second before ripping and dropping to the floor. Rebekah and Caroline both started laughing, stopping momentarily as the weirdness of the situation sank in.

"You don't seem like the type of people who break into houses and take hostages," Caroline said, watching Kol scrape pancake off the floor.

"We didn't use to be," Rebakah said softly, so much so that Caroline could barely make out what she said.

"Klaus said your father shot him," she said, weighing her words carefully. "Is that who you're running from?"

Both Rebekah and Kol's demeanor changed immediately. "He shouldn't have said that. It's none of your business," Rebekah said sharply, her eyes flashing in anger.

Caroline quickly decided to try another tactic, letting out a deep breath. "My father left my mom and I, so I know what it's like to have a difficult relationship with one of your parents."

Rebekah's eyes softened slightly, but Kol's eyes sparked with anger and disgust. "Don't try to compare your trite family drama to our situation. You can't possibly understand what we've been through."

"I wasn't…"

"You were, and there's no need to try and deny it," Kol said, practically spitting out the word 'pathetic' before turning back to his now burnt pancake on the stove.

Whatever goodwill Caroline thought she had been building up with the Mikaelson's now felt completely defunct, so she was surprised when Rebekah reached out and squeezed her hand, giving her an apologetic smile. "I know you meant well, it's just more complicated than we can explain at the moment."

Kol snickered, drawing both girls attention. "Look at Becca, trying to make friends with the hostage."

"Shut up Kol."

"I'm sorry Becca, you're probably just feeling guilty about trying to steal the hostages boyfriend."

For the first time since yesterday, Caroline remembered that this whole weekend had been planned as a chance for her to get some alone time with her boyfriend. Tyler, who had surely shown up at the house yesterday after she'd been knocked unconscious.

"What did you do to him?" she demanded, a hard edge to her voice, imaging him lying in her basement, unconscious and possibly bleeding out on the cold floor.

"Becca here pretended to be your cousin from out of town and flirted with him shamelessly. She even gave him a kiss goodnight, didn't…" Rebekah shot up from her chair, sending her fist flying into Kol's gut before he could finish his sentence. He doubled over immediately, and this time Caroline didn't let the moment pass her by. She jumped up, dashing towards the front door. Vaguely she was aware that her heels had been removed sometime before she woke up this morning, something which she sent a silent prayer of thank you for. Her hand reached out for the doorknob, feeling that at any moment she was going to be caught and sent sprawling towards the floor, but nothing came. She managed to get so far as to yank open the door, but was startled to find someone standing on the other side, hand raised as if about to knock.

"Elena!" she gasped.

"Caroline," Elena said, taken aback by her panicked appearance. "Are you okay?"

She could feel her next words die in her throat as she felt a sharp object dig into her back. "Hello Elena, it's so nice to finally meet you," Elijah said, his words brushing against the shell of her ear.

Elena sent a very confused look Caroline's way. "I thought you were spending the weekend with Tyler?"

She felt the pressure increase against her lower back, the message clear. "I was, but my cousin's came by for a surprise visit. This is Elijah."

Elena nodded, but didn't look convinced. "You just seem really jittery. Are you sure you're okay? And what happened to your head?"

"She and my sister got a bit rowdy last night, I'm afraid," Elijah said, his voice smooth as silk. "But Caroline's feeling much better this morning, aren't you?"

Caroline forced as genuine a smile as possible onto her face. "Yup. All better."

"Okay," Elena said, still sounding unconvinced. "I was just going to see if you and Tyler wanted to join me us for a picnic at the lake." She motioned to the three young people in the car parked along the side of the street. "Your cousins are welcome to come too, if they want."

"Um… I don't think…"

"That sounds lovely Elena, but unfortunately we have plans for this afternoon," Elijah said. Caroline, startled at being interrupted, looked up to see Elijah's gaze fixated on the boy in the driver's seat. She squinted against the sunlight, pretty sure that it was Stefan Salvatore from school, with Matt Donovan and Bonnie Bennett sitting in the backseat. "Perhaps you'd like to come over for dinner? I'd love for the chance to meet some of Caroline's friends."

"Oh," Elena said, looking to Caroline for confirmation. "Is that okay Caroline?"

"Of course," she said, thoroughly confused at the direction this conversation had taken.

"Do you want me to invite Tyler?"

Caroline found herself nodding, smile frozen on her lips.

"Okay then," Elena said, wearing a bemused expression. "I guess I'll see you later."

Caroline nodded again, the motion almost mechanical at that point, and Elena gave her a tiny wave before heading back to her car. They stood in the doorway until the car had driven away, and Caroline's stomach dropped as she felt Elijah pull her back into the house, pressing her against the back of the door as soon as it closed. She looked down and saw that he was holding a knife against her stomach, and not just any regular kitchen knife either, but an ugly looking blade that looked like it required very little effort to slice through her.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, unable to take her eyes off the blade.

"Fortunately for you, this mistake of yours has presented an opportunity to further our interests," Elijah said, voice still calm but with an added edge to it. "Now, seeing as I can't rely on you to listen to me, I'll have to resort to other methods to keep you from getting into trouble." He reached into his pocket and pulled out her mother's spare handcuffs.

"I promise I won't try to run," she said, but Elijah had already snapped one cuff on her wrist, and was pulling her towards the bedroom. "Really, I mean it this time."

Elijah threw open the door, pushing her into the room ahead of him. Scooping her up in one swift motion he dumped her on the bed on the other side of Klaus, right where she had woken up this morning, snapping the second cuff around one of the wooden posts that made up the headboard. Without so much as a second glance, he turned and left the room, snapping the door shut behind him.

Caroline was right back where she started this morning, only worse, and all she could think about was that Elijah had just invited her friends over for dinner. What on earth was going on?

l

"We're having guests for dinner."

Rebekah and Kol looked up at Elijah from their spots of the kitchen floor. Batter covered both of them, and there were clear scratch marks across Kol's right cheek while Rebekah was cradling her left arm. Both were expecting, at the very least, a lecture of some sort, not some cryptic announcement about dinner guests.

"What are you talking about," Kol grumbled, at least having the grace to look embarrassed while picking himself off the floor.

"It seems Caroline is friends with Stefan Salvatore," he said, stepping over a large puddle of batter to examine the contents of the fridge. "I've invited him over for dinner, along with some of her other friends."

"What?" they both exclaimed, sharing a look that clearly stated they thought Elijah had lost his mind.

"I'll need you both to be on your best behavior if this evening is to go off without any unexpected casualties."

"You're serious about this," Kol stated.

"But how?" Rebekah asked. "If Caroline lets even one of them know who we really are, they could go to the police."

"Let me handle that," Elijah said. "I need you and Kol to pick up some things from the storage locker. If you leave now, you should be back in time."

"What about you?" Rebekah asked wiping a glob of batter out of her hair.

"I have a dinner to plan."

TBC

A/N – I'm actually impressed with myself for getting another chapter done so quickly, and it's even a little longer than that last one. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to review, it's certainly proving to be incredible motivation to get these chapters done and posted quickly.


	4. Chapter 4

She wanted a shower.

She'd been handcuffed to a bed for god knows how long, next to one of her kidnappers no less, and all she could think about is how greasy her hair felt, and how uncomfortable she was in her little black dress from the night before. She prided herself on taking great care in her appearance, and even in the situation she currently found herself in she couldn't help but think about how amazing a hot shower and clean clothes would feel.

She sighed, leaning back and almost immediately falling off the bed. She caught herself just in time, grabbing onto the handcuff around her wrist to pull herself back onto the bed. Elijah clearly hadn't given any thought to her comfort by chaining her right wrist close to the edge of the bed. It forced her to either lie on her stomach or sit facing the headboard to keep from falling off the bed. It felt weird lying down in bed with Klaus asleep next to her, and facing the headboard reminded her of time outs in school when you had to sit in the corner and stare at the wall, so she had been sitting on the edge of the bed facing the door and Klaus, precariously keeping her balance. She scooted closer to the middle of the bed, putting her on an angle so that she was looking straight at Klaus' face. She tried to keep her eyes on the door, the bedside table, the headboard, anything but him. Unfortunately, Caroline wasn't really known for her self-control, and was soon scrutinizing his features.

He was definitely older than Kol, and she had at first guessed that he was also older than Elijah, but something about the way that they interacted earlier had her second guessing herself. Lying here, he definitely looked younger, but not by much. She surmised that Klaus was the leader of their little group from the way he spoke to Kol and how Elijah had deferred to him when speaking about their plan. But the respect she could see that Klaus had towards Elijah, it made her think Elijah was definitely the oldest.

The door suddenly swung open and Elijah strode in, phone in hand.

"Call your mother and find out when she'll be back," he said, holding the phone out to her.

"Un-cuff me first," she said, jiggling the cuff against the headboard.

Elijah's hand dropped and he gave her a pitying look. "Caroline, do you really think that will work on me?"

He sounded so much like her father, Caroline could feel herself begin to flush in embarrassment. "Then I'm not calling her." She knew she sounded like a petulant child, but she didn't care.

Elijah looked annoyed, but thoughtful. She thought perhaps he would give in to her demand when she felt the bed shake slightly. She looked down at Klaus and realized he was awake and laughing at her.

"Do you have something you'd like to add, Niklaus?" Elijah asked, less annoyed and more amused.

"No, no, dear brother. Sounds like you have everything under control," Klaus said wearing a cheeky grin.

Caroline saw Elijah stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Caroline, what about a compromise?"

She perked up immediately, and the words were out of her mouth before she could think about what she was really asking. "I want a shower."

She slapped her hands over her mouth in disbelief, expecting the brothers to start laughing. Instead the exact opposite happened. The grin left Klaus lips, and both he and Elijah shared a serious look. Her stomach dropped, unsure of why her comment had procured such an ominous response, but before she could take it back Elijah was nodding.

"Done," he said, once again holding the phone out to her.

She took the phone without protest, watching as the brothers shared another look while she dialed her aunts number. She picked up on the third ring, and Caroline didn't have to try hard to sound cheerful. "Hi Aunt Mary! It's Caroline. Can I talk to my mom?... Oh, okay. I just wanted to see what time she was planning on being home tomorrow… Auntie! You know I wouldn't do that… no, don't tell my mom I asked, she's gonna think I threw some sort of house party… just tell her I'm fine, and I'll see her tomorrow… yeah, I know… I know Auntie!... I love you too, bye." She hung up, slapping the phone down in Elijah's waiting hand. "She'll be home tomorrow evening around 9."

Elijah nodded, wearing a contemplative look. Then he took the keys to the handcuffs out of his pocket and tossed them to Klaus. One last look at Caroline and he was out the door.

"So, _Caroline_," he said, putting special emphasis on her name. "Shall we go take that shower?"

Her jaw literally dropped. "What do you mean we?"

Klaus was already pushing himself into a sitting position, looking much better than he had this morning. "It's across the hall, yes?" He reached over and un-cuffed her from the bed, snapping it onto his wrist, but she couldn't care less.

"What do you mean _we_?"

Klaus grinned at her, sliding his feet to the floor and standing gingerly. He tugged on the cuffs, motioning for her to get up as well. "I mean that I also need a shower, in case you hadn't noticed."

"I'm not having a shower with you," gushed Caroline.

"I wasn't asking you to," Klaus said, the knowing smirk he wore saying otherwise.

"Just so we're clear," Caroline said, as serious as she could possibly could, "I have a boyfriend."

Klaus' eyebrows raised comically. "Is that so?"

"Yes, it is," she said, cheeks blushing. "Besides, you're too old for me."

He actually looked a little offended at her words, mixed with his characteristic amusement. "How old do you think I am?"

Caroline shrugged, deciding to pick a number higher then she actually guessed. "Twenty-five."

Klaus nodded, chuckling under his breath. "Let's go."

Caroline stood up, coming to stand beside him. "Wait, so you're not gonna tell me?"

This time Klaus shrugged. "What does it matter?"

Caroline's eyes narrowed. "Fine," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Let's go."

"Are you mad at me?" Klaus asked, genuinely surprised.

"I'm fine," she said. "Can we go?"

He could see that she was clearly upset, which he found both entertaining and unsettling. He chose to focus on the former, and dramatically waved a hand out in front of him to signal her to lead the way. She stomped out of the room, her curls bouncing around her shoulders adorably, and he had to bite his tongue from making a comment about it.

As they passed through the hall into the bathroom, Klaus saw Elijah watching them from the Kitchen. Elijah had his coat on, keys in hand, and Klaus knew that he needed to leave for a bit. Klaus nodded to him, letting him know that he was fine. He wouldn't be gone more than twenty minutes anyway, not with Klaus still healing and Caroline just recently attempting to escape.

"Hurry up."

Klaus turned back towards the bathroom and Caroline, who was standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. She was definitely pissed, but did she ever wear it well. He stepped into the bathroom, making sure to brush against her as he crossed the threshold. She shied away from him, pressing herself into the door. As he continued into the bathroom, she had no choice but to follow as the cuff bit into the skin of her wrist.

"Well isn't this lovely," he said, looking around. It was small, with a sink by the door, followed by a toilet and finally a shower with a frosted glass casing. "Ladies first."

Caroline scowled, spitting out a 'fine' through clenched teeth, than mimicking his earlier dramatic gesture to signal him out of the room. Klaus smirked as he took the cuffs of first him and then her, setting them down on the counter beside the sink. Then to her complete horror, Klaus kicked the door shut, crossed his arms and leaned back against the sink.

"Whenever you're ready, love."

"But," she stuttered, "you said…"

"I said we would not be showering together," Klaus said. "I said nothing about leaving the room."

Caroline couldn't believe this was happening. "You tricked me."

Klaus laughed. "Is that so?"

"How desperate are you that you have to trick a poor defenseless girl into getting naked for you?" she yelled, desperation tingeing her words.

He looked at her for a long, tense moment. Then he stepped right into her personal space, so close she could feel his breath against her skin.

"Caroline, where do you keep razors?"

She looked confused, eyes flashing to the sink behind him. "Under the sink."

"Where else?"

She thought about the one hanging from its holder on the shower wall, realizing where he was going with this. "In the shower."

"Very good," he said. "And what else do you keep under the sink?"

She thought about all the contents of the drawers, flushing as she realized the practicality of his refusal to leave. "Cleaning supplies."

"And what type of chemicals are in cleaning supplies?"

"Harmful ones."

"Good girl," he said. "Can you think of anything else in this room I might not want you to get your hands on?"

She was bright red now, going through all the many things she could use as a weapon from this very room, even something as simple as a toothbrush. She couldn't meet his eyes, feeling incredibly foolish.

"Now, while you are no doubt a spectacular sight with or without clothes on, do you understand why I will not leave you alone in this room?"

She nodded quickly, wishing he would just forget she ever said anything. "I get it."

Klaus stepped back, satisfied with her answer, and resumed his former position. "Then have at it."

It took a minute for his words to sink in, and even as the colour had begun to leave her face she felt her anger rush back. "If you think I'm going to just strip in front of you, you are sadly mistaken," she bit out.

Klaus cocked is head to the side, an action that Caroline would not admit she found endearing, and shrugged his shoulders. "What would you suggest I do?"

"I'd say close your eyes but I don't trust you not to peek," she said, and the way Klaus' lips quirked up at her words was enough to tell her she had guessed right. "Turn around."

"No."

Caroline's eyes widened. "What do you mean no?"

"Are you not familiar with the word?" Klaus teased.

"You are totally perving on me."

Klaus laughed. "Why does it always come back to that?"

"I'm seventeen, which means the fact that you are so desperate to see me naked is totally creepy," she said.

"Because I'm twenty-five?"

"Yes!"

"And if I'm not twenty-five?"

She was at a loss for words. "That… what does it matter?"

"You just said it did, love."

"Stop calling me that!" she exclaimed. "It's like you're trying to piss me off!"

His gaze dropped to look her up and down. "What if I am?"

Caroline laughed. "My life could not get any more ridiculous." Klaus remained silent, and she shot a glare at him before storming into the shower, nearly taking the door off its tracks as she slammed it shut. She striped her dress off in one smooth motion, keeping on her bra and underwear. She knew he couldn't technically see her through the frosted glass, but she just couldn't bring herself to completely strip down knowing he was right there on the other side. She opened the door less than an inch to drop her dress on the floor outside the shower, than went to turn on the water.

"Razor, Caroline."

She cursed under her breath, grabbing the razor from its holder and chucking it out as well.

"Happy?"

He didn't respond, but she could image the self-satisfied smirk on his face. She turned on the water as hot as she could bear, standing directly under the spray. It felt heavenly, and she absolutely had to bite her tongue to keep from moaning. Once her hair was sufficiently drenched, she lathered in shampoo, rinsed it out and then followed with conditioner. She had planned to take her time, but seeing his frame through the glass was making her nervous and she ended up rushing through her routine. She scrubbed her face clean of make-up, and then herself as best she could with her undergarments still on. As soon as she was done she shut off the water, but then she found herself unsure of how to proceed. She hoped that maybe he would offer her a towel, but he remained perfectly still and silent.

"Um… towel?" she said, opening the door a crack. "Please?"

She saw him move on the other side of the glass, and a blue towel was shoved through the crack.

"Thanks," she muttered, drying herself off as quickly as possible, than fastening the towel around herself. She took in a deep breath, steeling herself, before sliding open the door and stepping onto the place mat outside the shower.

The mirror was fully steamed up, and Klaus looked flushed. He's removed the bandage from his side, leaving the ugly gash on display.

"Come here," he said, expression blank.

Caroline took a small step forward.

Klaus rolled his eyes, reaching out to her. "I'm not going to bite," he said, "now come here."

She took another small step forward, and she could actually see the annoyance in his face turn to something more volatile. He grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her up against him, snapping the cuffs onto her wrist, then weaved her other arm through the towel bar before snapping on the second cuff. The quick movement shifted her towel, loosening the fold that was holding it up. She pressed herself as close to the wall as she could, hoping the added pressure would keep her towel from falling down.

"How dare yo… oh my god!" she turned away as quickly as she could, Klaus already striping his jeans and boxers. "You could have warned me," she said, blushing in embarrassment.

"You look good when you blush."

Naturally, this only made her blush worse. She didn't hear him step into the shower, but she did hear the water start, so she waited a few moments and then figured that meant he was safely behind the shower door. She looked up, immediately regretting her decision as she realized that while Klaus was in the shower, he had left the door wide open.

"Fuck."

TBC

A/N – I honestly meant to continue, but I so need to be studying for exams right now so that's as far as this chapter will go. I can't say when I'll get to update this next, I have exams all week so it really depends on how they all go. Thanks so much for all the reviews! They are so welcome, I really appreciate all the feedback. I did have a couple questions about vampires in this fic. This is a HUMANVERSE AU, as in, there are no vampires in this universe. Everyone is human. Hope that clears up any lingering confusion.


	5. Chapter 5

"Do you seriously not understand how a shower door works?" Caroline seethed, her eyes flicking down to stare at her toes. She was now blushing so hard she felt like her cheeks were on fire; she cringed it crept down her neck and chest. "Seriously!" she ground out through clenched teeth, squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to focus her entire being on willing away the redness. Naturally this backfired, as the moment she closed her eyes an image of Klaus, water dripping down his bare chest, flashed before her. Her eyes snapped open, and she stomped her foot in frustration. "Fuck!"

She heard Klaus chuckle and before she could stop herself she had once again turned to look at him. He was leaning heavily against the wall, his right arm pressed against it while his left hand worked the water across his torso to clean his wound. Her eyes stayed strictly above his waist and followed the movement, unaware that her attentions weren't going unnoticed.

"What was it you said earlier? Something about _me_ perving on _you_?"

Caroline's eyes flicked up to meet his, embarrassed at being caught looking. "Not a chance," she snapped, pouring as much venom into her words as she could.

Klaus' shoulders shook as he laughed. "Unlike you, love, I don't mind."

Her eyes flashed in a mixture of shock and resentment. "This is totally sexual harassment."

He shrugged, wincing slightly at the movement. "Keep telling yourself that."

"Oh, I will," she huffed, watching as he grabbed a bar of soap and began running it across his chest. His movements slowed as he began cleaning his wound, his right hand clenching against the wall in obvious pain. She fought down the irrational urge to offer him help, firstly because she was handcuffed to the towel rod, and secondly because_, hello_, she was his hostage and shouldn't be worried about his well-being. In fact, she should be actively routing for him to collapse in pain and knock himself out. Granted she'd still be handcuffed to the towel rod, but maybe it would buy her enough time to find something to pick the locks with. Or maybe she could squeeze her hands free (so long as she didn't have to break any bones, because the sound alone might just make her pass out).

Lost in her musings, she caught herself just as her eyes began following his hand began lower, forcing herself to focus back on his face. His expression was strained, and she came to the conclusion that he'd just about used up all his strength already. She heard the soap drop, struggled briefly to keep herself from looking down towards the sound, and heard him turn the water off. Caroline squeezed her eyes shut as he turned to face her. She pressed herself as close to the wall as she could as she felt him pass by her, afraid of even the slightest contact. She felt the towel around her begin to slip at her sudden movement, sure that as soon as she stepped away from the wall it would slide off her. She heard him take a towel out from under the sink and dry himself off, but her eyes remained firmly closed even as she heard him shrug back into his clothes.

"Alright Caroline," he said, reaching around her to un-cuff her right hand. "I'm going to need you to re-do the bandage." She immediately re-fastened her towel around herself to keep it from falling down, than turned around to face him. She peeked through semi-closed lids to make sure he really was covered before opening her eyes fully. He seemed to find this action incredibly amusing, as a big smile broke out across his face.

"Glad to see you find my humiliation so entertaining," she bit out, the cuffs jingling as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You do have a flare for the dramatic."

"And how am I supposed to react when my kidnapper exposes himself to me?"

"Sweetheart, I was only trying to keep an eye on you, or have you not been listening to what I've been saying?"

"Don't even try and patronize me, you totally got off on that."

Klaus rolled his eyes, but it was meaningless against the smirk that painted his lips. "How about we argue about this after I'm patched up, yes?"

Caroline's eyes narrowed, but she didn't argue. He was leaning heavily against the bathroom sink, and he looked a lot paler than he did before his shower. She straightened and made her way over to him, subtely eyeing the door as she contemplated making a run for it. If she could just get onto his left side, she might be able to make it…

"Don't even try it."

His lips were right against her ear, his voice deep and threatening. His hands grasped her waist, holding her in place against him while the majority of his weightstill rested against the counter. He's looking at her like he expects something, and for a brief moment Caroline thinks about kissing him. Not because she wants to, but because isn't that what you do to distract someone? Only she's not really sure how well that would work, considering how she's currently focused on how little space their is between them and not on how many seconds she needs to make it to the door before he realizes what she's planning. His lips brush against the shell of her ear as he pulls back suddenly, allowing some space between them, and she knows her moment of opportunity has passed. She feels him reach down and grab the open cuff, sliding it shut around his own wrist, before bringing his hands back to rest on her waist.

She feels helpless and pissed off that she's back in the same position she was before, and finds herself reaching into the drawers under the sink to pull out another first aid kit (another perk of having the Sheriff for a mom) before he can mention taking care of his injured torso again. She has the antibiotic cream and bandages out in no time, applying the cream generously to his still very fresh, and now very red, wound. He doesn't make a sound as she works but she feels him tense under her touch, and she can feel his eyes on her face even though she refuses to meet them in return. As soon as she's done she packs up the rest of the kit and throws it back in the drawer. She still refuses to meet his eyes, tries to cross her arms over her chest but the cuffs make that impossible so she settles her hands on her hips instead.

"So… what now?" she demands, settling on staring at the reflection of the back of his head in the mirror.

"I assume you'd like to get dressed," Klaus says. There's a breathy quality to his voice that wasn't there a minute ago, and at first Caroline thinks that maybe he's a lot more affected by her proximity then he's let on, but soon comes to the conclusion that he might just be about ready to pass out again.

"My rooms upstairs," she says, already seeing another opportunity to escape and proud of how steady she's able to keep her voice in spite of it. She doubts he'll last much longer if she can get him to climb the stairs. All she needs is another moment where he's just a little bit vulnerable, and she's sure she can free herself.

Klaus nods, and Caroline tries not to let a triumphant smile break out. He's lost almost all colour in his face now, and she can see that his hands are beginning to shake. He makes for the door first, and Caroline can't help but smile. She watches as he places the keys to the cuffs in his left pocket, makes ready to reach for them as he unlocks and opens the door.

The smile wipes right off her face as she sees Elijah standing right outside.

He takes one look at Klaus and immediately slides an arm around him. "I think you've done enough for one day," he says, but instead of taking him back to the guestroom he heads for the stairs. Caroline has no choice but to follow as Elijah leads them up, walking at an awkward angle as both men take up most of the staircase and Caroline is left to keep up behind them while being led by her cuffed hand. She almost trips once or twice, which earns her a slight look of disapproval from Elijah. For some reason this doesn't irritate her as much as she thinks it should, although she's still extremely relieved once they make it to the top.

Elijah heads directly for her room, which she finds a little disturbing. She supposes it shouldn't come as a surprise that he's familiarized himself with the house, but she doesn't find it any less creepy. It's just another reminder of the reality of her situation, which at this point is becoming a necessity.

Elijah sets Klaus down on the bed and Caroline realizes he's no longer conscious, but because of how her left hand is cuffed to his right hand as he collapses backwards she gets pulled right into Elijah, who's standing to her left. He catches her rather gracefully, bending down on one knee while his arm scoops around her waist and cradles her to his chest. It would be totally romantic, if she weren't handcuffed to his brother and he wasn't, you know, _holding her hostage in her own house_.

"Thanks," she says, and is surprised to feel resistance from Elijah when she moves to get up. "What…"

She's cut off when Elijah reaches for her towel, and just as she realizes that it's come undone and she's showing an indecent amount of skin, he pulls it back up and refastens it. She's so taken aback by the gesture her jaw literally drops. Elijah doesn't seem to notice, simply lifts her to her feet and stands beside her. He pulls a second set of keys out and gently un-cuffs her from Klaus, nodding towards her closet. She gets the message, already going over clothing options in her head.

"So..." she says, pulling out a pair of dark skinny jeans. "You invited my friends over for dinner."

He doesn't respond except for the slight raising of an eyebrow.

"It's just that, I kinda thought maybe you were staying here because you were trying to keep a low profile." She's pulled out a pink peasant top and a dark green blouse, holding each up against the jeans. "How exactly do you plan on keeping me from telling them the truth? I mean, they're my friends, they're gonna know somethings wrong." She thinks the peasant top is probably her best option, and is about to put the blouse back when she's startled by the sound of Elijah's voice.

"There are some questions that are best left unanswered." He walks over to her, taking both shirts from her hands before tossing the peasant top aside and holding open the blouse. She realizes that, like with Klaus earlier, she is not going to be allowed any privacy. She's annoyed by this realization, but moreso at his reluctance to give her any of the answers he had promised her the night before. She turns her back to him, slipping her hands into the sleeves of the blouse. She feels him drag the shirt up her arms, settling it on her shoulders and curling the collar around her neck before taking a step back. She finds it weirdly sensual, even though she's pretty sure he doesn't feel the same way from the blank expression he's wearing. She begins to do up the buttons but realizes the bulk of the towel is getting in the way. She unfastens it, intending to catch it on her hips but severely miscalculating how quickly gravity pulls it to the ground, leaving her in nothing but the shirt and her underwear. If Klaus were awake she's sure he'd have made some comment, but Elijah doesn't even blink (or look down). He continues to watch her calmly as she scrambles to tug on her jeans, giving little indication that he's even aware of how humiliating the whole situation is for her. Once she's dressed she looks at him expectantly.

Elijah tilts his head towards the bed. "I'll need some time to prepare dinner," he says. "You'll stay up here until I'm ready."

Caroline cringes. "Seriously? Can't I just hang out in the kitchen with you?"

His lips form something between a smirk and a grin, but her hopes are crashed when he shakes his head softly. "Which hand?"

Caroline doesn't bother scowling since Elijah would be sure to make her feel childish for it, and heads over to the opposite side of the bed from Klaus. She sprawls onto her back, letting her left wrist fall between the metal bars of her headboard. She tries to look pissed off without looking petulent, watching as Elijah follows her around the other side of the bed. In one smooth motion he leans across her and snaps the cuffs to her wrist and the headboard. She expects him to just turn and leave, but he's hovering over her like he's waiting for something.

"Where are the key's, Caroline?"

Shit. How could she forget about the keys?

"What keys?" She almost winces at how fake she sounds, but tries to keep her eyes as wide and innocent looking as possible.

"Don't lie to me Caroline." There's an edge to his voice that makes her shiver, reminds her that this man is dangerous.

"In his pocket," she whispers, the words slipping out with little resistance, and immediately Elijah is up and around the bed, searching through his brothers pockets until he pulls out the set of keys. He jingles them slightly in what Caroline thinks is a shot at her crumbling chances of escape, then breezes out of the room without another word.

l

Elijah gets the call from Kol just as he is setting the casserole in the oven.

"They're missing."

Elijah sets the timer on the oven, waiting for Kol to continue.

"Did you hear me Elijah? They're. Missing."

Elijah fights the urge to sigh, can just imagine Niklaus' face scrunching up in anger at their little brother's flare for the dramatic. "Yes, I heard you Kol. What exactly is missing?"

"What do you think is missing?"

"Kol, either tell me what is missing, or put Rebekah on the phone."

"The plans, Elijah. The plans, and some of the ammo."

He feels as if the world has stopped as Kol's words sink in. The plans are gone. The plans that can send them all to jail for life. The plans that no one knew about except them. "That's not possible."

"We're standing in the locker right now, Elijah, and the plans aren't here."

"You said something else was missing."

"Some ammo. One of the rifles and a box of C4."

Elijah curses, and Kol goes silent on the other end of the line.

"Elijah, what do we do?"

He know's who's responsible for this, and he's embarrassed that he didn't see this coming. He should have known, the moment Katerina showed up. Now they were all going to pay for it.

"Leave everything," he says. "Head back immediately."

"Elijah..."

"Immediately, Kol."

He hears Kol shout to Rebekah, tells her they need to leave. Hears Rebekah say they should take some of it with them. "Kol, leave everything. Do you understand me?"

Kol sign heavily into the phone. "I heard you."

"I'll see you shortly," Elijah says, hears Kol and Rebekah yelling at each other as he hangs up. He leans back against the counter, cursing. This was not the way it was supposed to happen. This was _absolutely_ not the way it was supposed to happen.

TBC

A/N - Seriously did not mean to go that long without updating, but I actually had kinda a crazy couple of weeks right after exams. I got an incredible job offer and they wanted me to start ASAP so I had like a week to pack up my life and move which leaves very little time for writing. But now I'm settled, so updates should be MUCH more regular. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I meant to send some reply's, but pretty much as soon as the aforementioned move happened I haven't had a ton of time online, so hopefully I'll get a chance to respond now :) ALSO, I didn't really mean for this to be Elijah/Caroline/Klaus, but it seems like my muse is dictating otherwise. We'll see where it goes, but I make no promises. After all, I am a die-hard Klaroline fan at heart (but a little Elijah/Caroline thrown in on the side can't hurt).


	6. Chapter 6

"Are we there yet?"

Rebekah's hands tightened around the steering wheel. "Considering you drove all the way there, I think you know the answer to that."

"So that's a no then?"

She gritted her teeth in frustration. She _knew_ when she had grabbed the keys from him and said she was driving home he would be pissed, but she thought she would be able to handle it. She neglected to think about how spending four hours trapped in car with Kol when he wasn't trying to get under her skin was akin to hell; that tripled when he was actually trying to be unpleasant.

"You forgot to signal, Bekah."

"No I didn't, Kol."

"If you don't signal the other cars won't know you're changing lanes."

"Kol…"

"Sometimes when people are really stressed they forget to signal. Are you stressed Bekah?"

"I didn't forget to signal!" she yelled.

Kol was silent. Rebekah waited a few moments, then loosened her grip the wheel, hopeful that he had finally given up.

"So… how much longer until we're there?"

The car swerved as Rebekah turned to glare at Kol. "Ask me that one more time and I'm driving into the guardrail."

"Oh Bekah, you really have to be careful not to let your emotions get the best of you when you're driving. You could really hurt somebody."

Rebekah saw a sign for a rest stop up ahead and pulled off the highway. They were only about thirty minutes from Caroline's, but after three and a half hours of Kol harping about her driving and her feelings and anything else he could come up with she wasn't going to make it a minute more without a break. They had made good time on the way there (which was a given with the way Kol drove) and they hadn't stayed long after Kol spoke to Elijah. Rebekah estimated that even with a short stop they'd be back at Caroline's with plenty of time to hash out a plan for the evening before their guests arrived.

"Why are we stopping?" Kol asked, eyeing the gas station/roadside diner they'd pulled up to.

Rebekah ignored him, yanking the keys out of the ignition and swinging open her door. Just as she was about to slip out of the van she recognized someone standing just outside the diner, only a few feet away from where she'd parked. Immediately she pulled her door shut.

"What are you doi…" Rebekah slapped her hand over his mouth, pressing a finger up against her lips to indicate silence. Kol stilled instantly, nodding to her. She tilted her head towards the individual, and Kol's eyes widened in shock that was quickly replaced by fear. Both siblings remained still and unmoving, sure that the moment they did he would turn and see them. The next few seconds dragged on as Kol watched him speak to his associate outside, then turn to enter the diner. As soon as the door closed behind him he tore Rebekah's hand from his mouth and nodded for her to start the car.

They were completely silent until they had been on the highway for a solid ten minutes. Rebekah's hands would tighten around the wheel, then release briefly before tightening again. Kol reached out and squeezed her shoulder gently.

"He didn't see us Bekah," he said, his voice uncharacteristically soft. "He didn't see us."

Rebekah nodded, but she could feel her eyes welling up with tears. He was so close to her, if he had just turned his head a fraction…

"He didn't see us," Kol said firmly, and Rebekah turned to look at him for a moment to reassure herself that he wasn't just saying it to make her feel better. Kol was not good at lying, he was too eager about everything to be able to hide his intentions. He was looking at her seriously, and there wasn't a trace of fear on his face. Only anger.

Rebekah nodded, keeping her eyes on the road ahead of her. "He was so close."

Kol nodded, leaving his hand on her shoulder. "He was."

"I haven't been that close to him since…" she broke off, unable to finish her thought.

"I know," he said. She was so young when it had all happened, hell, he'd been young when it happened. But Rebekah hadn't been involved in the way he and his brothers were. She was still grieving for Henrik when Mikael killed their mother and cast them out, forcing them to go on the run. Elijah hadn't wanted to take Rebakah with them at first, but Nik had been adamant that they not leave Rebekah behind. Though Mikael had shown no threat to her, there was no guarantee he wouldn't try to use Rebekah to get to the brothers. Kol's part had been minor in whole incident; even he didn't know all the details of what happened between Klaus, Elijah and their father. It seemed siding with his brothers was enough for his father to label him a traitor as well. In a strange way, Kol was thankful, since it had brought the siblings together and strengthened their bond. He'd always preferred his mother to his father anyway, and with her gone he had no need to pretend he felt otherwise. Rebekah had been dealt the hardest blow, losing both parents she loved in one fell swoop.

Seeing Rebekah now, close to tears, made Kol feel helpless. He hated feeling helpless. "He doesn't hate you, Rebekah. You haven't done anything to him."

"I left," she said, "I chose to side against him."

"We took you," Kol reasoned. "You were too young…"

"I was 14," she said, "I knew what I was doing. After what he did, I couldn't stay with him. And don't even think for a second that I'd ever forgive you if you'd left me."

"We wouldn't have left you," Kol said, fighting the urge to smile at what he knew would come next.

"You left me with Finn!" she shrieked. "I hate Sage, and you know how dull Finn is, even Elijah can't stand him."

"It was only until we could find a safe place to stay."

"There's never been a safe place to stay, Kol," she grumbled.

"Nik needed time to come up with plan," Kol shrugged. "He didn't want to have to worry about you. Naturally he regretted that as soon as we picked you up."

Rebekah smirked. "You're not the only one who gets to use the bratty younger child card."

Kol laughed, pleased that the cloud of gloom and doom that had been over them a few moments ago had lifted. Rebekah seemed to come to the same conclusion, a sentimental look filling her eyes.

"Thanks Kol."

"Anytime Bekah."

l

Caroline was _so bored._

She couldn't even careless how ridiculous it was that she was handcuffed to her own bed beside one of her captors, because she'd been there for like _an hour_ and there were only so many things she could think about before she got sick of her own thoughts.

She tried to listen to Elijah moving around downstairs, but she got distracted by the even breathes of Klaus beside her and scrapped that idea. She tried counting things around her room, tried imaging all the different outfits she could put together from her closet, even tried redecorating her room in her head. Each time she looked up at the clock so little time had passed she felt herself growing more and more frustrated.

So caught up in her own thoughts she jumped when she felt a hand on her thigh. She blinked a few times to make sure she was actually seeing what she thought she was seeing, then followed his arm up to his face. His eyes were still closed, his breathes even, but something told her he wasn't sleeping.

"Um… can I help you with something?" she said, brushing his hand off her thigh, only to have it be replaced a moment latter. Her eyes narrowed. "If you're trying to cop a feel while pretending to be sleeping, you're doing a pretty lousy job of it."

His lips quirked up into a grin. "You're shaking the bed."

Caroline's eyes widened. She hadn't noticed, but her leg was most definitely shaking. She stopped it immediately, but felt the nervous energy pooling, and it wasn't long before she was tapping her foot against the mattress.

She felt Klaus shift beside her, slipping am arm under her neck and pulling her into his chest. "What are you doing?" she panicked, fighting against his pull.

"Relax, Caroline," he said, his voice velvety smooth. "Just trust me."

"Um, no," she said, pushing away from him. She sat up, meeting his now open eyes with a ferocious glare. "What do you think you're doing?"

Klaus sighed. "Trying to sleep."

"And what? You think cuddling is going to help that?" She hated the way he seemed amused by her assumption. "I'm so not down for that."

"Not cuddling, Caroline," he said. "Something my mother used to do."

"Oh." She didn't know how to respond to that. She looked for any trace of deceit in him but came up empty. "Okay, so what is this? And don't even try that whole 'trust me' crap, because I'm not buying it."

Klaus nodded, giving her a curious look. "It might sound strange."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Stranger than spooning with your hostage?"

He laughed, "No, you're probably right."

She fought the smile that came from his laughter. "So, what's so strange about it?"

"When Bekah was little, where we lived it didn't get dark till past her bedtime. She was such a ball of energy, when mother tried to put her to bed she'd fidget so much the whole bed would shake. So mother would lie down with her, and Bekah would listen to mother's even breathes and steady heartbeat until it she'd relaxed enough to fall asleep." Klaus whole face changed as he told the story, the first hint of a genuine smile making him seem years younger. It was as if he was transported back to that time, and all the darkness that was so prevalent in him before had disappeared.

"What happened to her?" Caroline asked softly. A dark shadow slid over his features, and she immediately regretted losing the young man who was at peace just a moment before.

"She was killed," he said. He looked as though he was about to say more, but nothing came.

"I'm sorry," she said.

He nodded so slightly she barely acknowledged it. Desperate to get rid of the dark mood that had settled around them, she made a show of sliding back down on the bed and shimmying closer to him.

"So in this situation, I'm you're sister, right?" she said, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Something like that." She felt the vibrations of his words against her cheek, tucking herself right up against him.

"So... now what?"

Klaus chuckled, bringing his hand around her to rest lightly on her hair. "Just relax, Caroline."

She focused on the feel of his chest rising and falling with each breath, and the steady beat of his heart, and before she knew it both of them were asleep.

TBC

A/N - Sorry this is so short, but I really wanted to post this ASAP since the next part starts to get into the dinner and it seemed like a good place to break. Thanks so much to everyone who's reviewed! Next chapter should be soon to follow!


	7. Chapter 7

Elijah knew something was wrong the moment he heard Rebekah thank Kol for opening the door for her.

"What happened?"

They both looked up at him, startled.

"How'd you…"

"I don't have time for theatrics, Kol," Elijah ground out. "What. Happened?"

They shared a look, Rebekah nodding for Kol to continue. "We saw Mikael."

Elijah tried and failed to stop his surprise from showing. "In Mystic Falls?"

"At a diner just off the highway," Rebekah said, biting her lip in hesitation. "He was so close, Elijah. I almost…"

"He didn't see us," Kol cut her off, voice flat.

Elijah searched for any trace of uncertaintly in either of them. "You're sure?"

Kol rolled his eyes. "We wouldn't be here if he saw us, Elijah."

"This changes things," Elijah said, glancing briefly at the clock on the wall. "Caroline's friends will be here shortly."

"What do we do?" Rebekah asked.

Elijah sighed. "We need to leave as soon as possible. Mikael will head to the boarding house first but it won't take him long to figure out where we are." Elijah nodded to the staircase. "We should speak with Niklaus. He's upstairs resting."

"Oh goody," Kol said, grabbing the banister with both hands, "family meeting." He made as if to jump the banister but was stopped abruptly when Elijah pulled him down by the back of his shirt collar.

"Please at least attempt to act civilized, Kol."

Rebekah grinned at Kol's dark look, starting up the stairs with Elijah beside her. "Where's Caroline?" she asked Elijah, Kol falling in line behind them.

"With Niklaus," he replied.

"Are you sure that's wise? Nik isn't exactly up to strength if she decides to make a run for it."

"There's no reason to worry, she's handcuffed to the bed."

Kol snorted behind them. "He must just love that."

Rebekah spun around, jabbing Kol in the chest so hard he was forced to take a step backwards. "Don't be vulgar!"

"Learn to take a joke, Rebah," Kol grumbled, rubbing his hand in circles across the spot where Rebekah hit him. "Jeeze."

"That's enough," Elijah said, the harsh words countered by the way his lips quirked up as if he were fighting a smile. "There will be plenty of time for childish arguments later."

Rebekah raised her eyebrows at Kol, a clear indication that she took Elijah's words as being directed solely at him. Kol responded by sticking his tongue out at her. She crossed her arms over her chest and spun back around, stomping the rest of the way upstairs.

When they reached the top Elijah led the way to Caroline's bedroom. He was sure that the commotion his siblings made upon returning would have woken Niklaus, so it caught him my surprise to see his brother with Caroline curled into his side, both seemingly still asleep. He felt Rebekah push past him and realized he had stopped directly in the path of the door.

"Aw!" Rebekah wispered, hooking her arm around Elijah's and leaning against him. "He looks so peaceful."

Elijah looked down at Rebekah and the wistful expression she wore. It was easy to forget how for much of Rebekah's life she'd known Klaus as an angry and troubled young man; Mikael had seen to that. Elijah stepped forward to rouse him, but Rebekah pulled him back.

"One more minute," she said.

Her expression was so hopeful he couldn't find it in him to refuse her. "One minute," he conceeded, almost blinded by the smile she gave him in return.

"Are they spooning?" Kol had poked his head between them, and Rebekah's elbow shot out at his words. Kol dodged it artfully, coming around Elijah's other side. "It's a legitimate question."

"Shut up Kol," Rebekah said. "It's sweet."

Kol made a gagging noise, which turned into a weezing sound when Elijah smacked him in the side.

"Were you planning on standing there and staring at me all day," Klaus said, eyes still closed, "or did you perhaps have something you needed to tell me?"

Rebekah sighed, letting go of Elijaha's arm. She took a seat on the bed next to Klaus, careful to not wake Caroline. "You looked so peaceful. I didn't want to disturb that."

Klaus smiled sweetly at her, reaching out with the hand that wasn't currently tangled in Caroline's hair to take her hand in his. "Thank you, Bekah."

"Seriously, can we skip all this sentimental crap," Kol said, causiouly taking a step away from Elijah to avoid being smacked again and leaning against Caroline's night table. Klaus raised his eyebrows at Rebekah, and as if a silent message was passed between them she turned around and looked up at Kol with big doe eyes full of intention. His stomache dropped and he straighted. "No, Bekah..." He started to back away but Rebekah was too fast, launching herself at him and wrapping her arms around his neck in something between a hug and a choke-hold.

"Oh Kol, I love you too," she said, putting all her weight onto him even as he struggled to push her off.

"Bekah, get off!"

"I don't want you to feel left out, Kol," she said, squeezing him harder as she placed a sloppy kiss on his head above his ear.

"Ew Bekah!" Kol said, trying to unclasp her arms without hurting or dropping her. "Elijah! Help!"

Both Klaus and Elijah were grinning, the former trying not to laugh in case the movement woke his sleeping companion and the latter shaking his head in a fatherly manner. After a few more seconds of struggling Rebekah let go after a final squeeze, gracefully moving back and taking up her spot on the bed again. Kol shook out his arms, then scrubbed at the side of his head with a scowl. "You're such a girl, Bekah."

Her only response was to blow a kiss at him.

A comfortable silence settled between the four siblings as Kol moved to the opposite side of the bed, grumbling under his breath, and leaned against the wall beside the window. Klaus was the first to speak, spured on by the troubled look in Rebekah's eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently, his thumb stroking the back of her hand serving as a measure of comfort.

"We saw Mikael, Nik," she said quietly. She felt him stiffen immediately, his eyes flying to Kol in fury. "It wasn't his fault Nik, I stopped at a diner off the highway and he was just there, Kol didn't do anything."

"Of course it was his fault," Klaus said, his voice like ice.

"Niklaus..."

"_Do not_ try to defend him Elijah. It's his fault for bringing Katerina into our plans. Who do you think told Mikael where we were?"

"You forget that he is not the first of us to fall victim to Katerina's deception."

"All the more reason he should know better than to trust her."

"Please Nik, it was my fault," Rebekah pleaded, eyes glassy with unshed tears. "I shouldn't have stopped."

"Don't bother Bekah," Kol said. "He's already made up his mind." He made to storm out of the room but Elijah brought a hand up to his chest to stop him as he attempted to pass him.

"This isn't accomplishing anything," he said. "We have little time before Mikael discovers where we are, and we should not spend it placing blame."

The dark look remained on Klaus' face, but he nodded his head in acquiescence. Kol just took a step back from Elijah, crossing his arms over his chest and remained silent, refusing to acknowledge anyone.

"Stefan will be here along with at least three other's," Elijah said. "I've already told Elena, that's Caroline's friend, that Rebekah and I were Caroline's cousins, so they'll be expecting us at least. I'm afraid if we invent any more family they've never heard of, we might draw undue suspicion to ourselves."

Klaus nodded. "I doubt I'll be able to leave this bed for longer than an hour at a time anyway." He directed his attention to Rebekah, squeezing her hand. "How long ago did you run into Mikael?"

"Less than an hour ago."

"I'd say that gives us about two hours before be checks here," Klaus said. "Can we get a message to Damon? Mikael will check the boarding house first, and perhaps Damon can buy us a bit more time. I believe he owes us."

"Damn right he does," Kol muttered, his hands clenching into fists. "I'd be more than happy to deliver the message."

"I need you here," Elijah said. "Besides, Stefan can just as easily deliver a message without drawing suspicion. None of us can leave the house at this point until we take our leave, Mikael could already have people staking out the town."

"I can pull Stefan aside when they arrive," Rebekah offered.

Elijah sighed. "I had believed that inviting them here would give us the opportunity to have Stefan come to us, and save us the complication of attempting to get to the boarding house unseen, but with so little time having that many people to work around will just draw more attention to us."

"They're just kids," Rebekah said. "I doubt they'll notice anything. We can just make up a family emergency for Caroline, say they have to leave once we've made contact with Stefan."

"We could dose them."

Three sets of eyes settled on Kol, who shrugged non-chalently. "Put something in the food, once they're out get the information we need from Stefan and then leave."

Elijah and Rebekah looked about to object when Klaus spoke up.

"As much as it pains me, Kol's right. Saying we have any specific amount of time before we're found is optimistic at best, we need to dispose of them as quickly as possible and get that information. Trying to play some sort of charade will take too much time." He looked down at Caroline, still sound asleep next to him. "Besides, she'll spend the whole time trying to find a way to give them a message anyway. It's best we leave as quickly as possible."

"How are we supposed to explain what happened when they wake up?"

"We'll be gone, Bekah. That's why we need to dose them, so we can leave quickly without drawing attention."

"And when they wake up, Kol? We'll have given ourselves away."

"What does that matter if we're gone."

"She's waking up."

All eyes turned to the sleeping blonde at Klaus words, a thick silence permeating the room.

l

Caroline could hear voices.

She came to slowly, unwilling to let go of the feeling of comfort and warmth that encompassed her. She held onto it, pushing the sounds of voices around her away and focused on the even beating of a heart beneath where her head rested. She could feel herself begin to fall back asleep when she heard her name come up. Suddenly she was no longer tired, focusing intently on what was being said around her.

She tried to keep her breathing even, giving no sign that she had awoken, but soon became distracted as she became aware of Klaus' hand making small circles on her upper back while gently tangled in her hair. She heard Kol say something about drugging her friends, and it took great effort on her part to keep herself from visibly reacting. Her undoing was when Klaus began to curl a lock of hair around his finger, bringing her focus back to him and making her acutely aware of his warm body pressed intimately up against hers. She tensed up before she could stop herself and she the exact moment he was onto her as his hand stopped it's motions altogther.

She felt the thick tenseness in the room at Klaus' statement, and for a few seconds attempted to pretend that she was just waking up. She opened her eyes slowly, fluttering them as convincingly as she could manage to give the illusion that she had only just awoken.

Rebekah sat by Klaus' side, while Elijah and Kol stood next to the bed, all eyes on her. She couldn't help but find that particular realization unsettling, and quickly flitted her gaze up to Klaus face. His look was nothing short of calculating.

"How much did you hear, love?"

Caroline tried to hide her surprise at his question, but she could see in his eyes she didn't succeed. "Not much." She pushed up against his chest, struggling into a sitting position as his hand dropped down from the back of her neck to her lower back. She could see that he didn't believe her, so she shrugged as casually as she could and continued, "Something about how you were going to drug my friends."

"Is that all?" Klaus asked, clearly unconvinced. His gaze lingered on her long enough to make her squirm in discomfort. The uncomfortable silence was broken when they heard the doorbell ring. All the siblings shared a troubled look before their attention fell back to Klaus. "Right, Rebekah and Elijah will welcome them in and keep them busy while Kol sneaks out to get the _product_ from the van. Once you bring it inside, go back and stay in the van. It shouldn't take long for it to work so Rebekah can get right to questioning and then we'll be off."

All three nodded their heads in understanding and agreement, although Kol didn't look happy about being relegated to the van. They were already on their way out the door when Caroline realized he hadn't said anything about her.

"What about me?"

His hand moved to grip her side, keeping her close to him as he said, "You'll stay up here with me until we're ready to leave."

She made a move to get off the bed too late, his arm snaking around her waist fully and pulling her down on the bed. "I'm not just going to let you drug my friends!" she seethed, struggling against him. In one fluid motion that took her completely by surprise he flipped them so that she lay beneath him, the weight of his body keeping her trapped in place.

"You have my word, we will not harm your friends," Klaus said. He brought his hand up to tug gently on the handcuff on her wrist. "It's not as if you have much of a choice anyway, love."

Caroline flushed slightly at the embarrassment at having forgotten that she was handcuffed to the bed, and stopped struggling alltogether. At her stillness, Klaus lifted himself off of her and rolled onto his side. Caroline watched as his eyes fluttered closed, taking in his laboured breathing and recognizing once again he had over exerted himself.

"So what about me?"

He grinned, his eyes still closed. "What do you mean?"

"Are you going to drug me too?"

The grin disappeared from his face and his eyes snapped open at her words, coloured with concern and agitiation. "Would that be so bad?"

Caroline gasped. "Yes! Of course that would be back. God, what kind of a question is that?"

He just continued to stare at her, his expression hard to read as it changed so suddenly from one emotion to another. "It's not just for our protection," he finally said, choosing his words carefully.

"What does that even... oh," she broke off, recalling what she had heard earlier. "You mean if this Mikael guy thinks I've helped you, he could come after me."

Klaus looked pleasantly surprised at her conclusion, but did not answer her. He simply brought his hand up to play with a loose strand of hair that had strayed across her shoulder. Caroline continued to watch him with curiosity, trying to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together and fully understand what was really going on here. She had so many questions, and as much as she wanted to know the answers right now, she couldn't help but find it kinda sweet that the reason Klaus, and Elijah, wouldn't tell her was to protect her.

"So will I ever know the whole story?" she asked finally.

"Maybe one day."

A loud crash from downstairs interupted their moment, and Klaus had a sinking feeling that one day would be upon them a lot sooner then either of them were ready for it.

TBC

A/N - I'm super sorry this took so long, I had a really hard time writing this chapter because it was lot of talk and not a lot of anything else really, BUT that's because the next chapter is seriously nuts, so I had to get all this talk out of the way. I know you probably have a ton of questions, but I promise answers are coming (in the next two chapters especially). Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who's taken the time to review, and a special thank you to xo LAILAIxo who's review absolutely made my day :)


	8. Chapter 8

This was not how Kol planned to spend his Saturday.

Driving to the storage locker to find that Katerina had already been there was bad enough, finding out she had taken the plans was just slightly worse, but running into Mikael definitely took top prize. Any chance of Klaus forgiving him within his lifetime for bringing Katerina in on their last job had flow out the window the moment Rebekah had mentioned their little run in with their father. Nevermind that even _Elijah_ had been deceived by her, which had resulted in them going on the run in the first place. Well, technically it would be the second time, but it was because of that unfortunate incident that there was no safe place for them to hide that Mikael wouldn't eventually find them at, and they had Katerina to thank for that. And Elijah, but Kol knew of all of them, the only person who actually blamed Elijah for being deceived was Elijah himself.

Currently he trailed behind his brother and Rebekah as they made their way downstairs.

"Kol, do not let them see you."

"Yes, Bekah," he grumbled, too miserable to even bother putting any snark behind his words.

Elijah had stopped just in front of the door, turning to face him. "Once you have it, place it at the back door," he instructed. "Then wait in the van."

Kol scowled but nodded his acknowledgement, heading for the back door through the kitchen. As he slid it open he could hear them greeting their "guests". He fought the childish urge to slam the door shut behind him, but chuckled to himself as he imagined the murderous looks his siblings would try to hide as they came up with a cover.

He crept along the back of the house, keeping his weight on the balls of his feet. He peeked around the side of the house, checking the reflection of the front yard in the neighbours window. Only one car was parked in front of the house, but whoever had driven it was clearly already inside. There was no one else along the street, as far as he could tell, so he darted out towards the van, moving as quickly and silently as he could.

He slid across the driver's seat once he was inside, making his way into the back of the van. It was old, but not old enough to attract attention. They'd removed the middle seats to make it easier for them to jump in when they were in a hurry, and in the case of their last job, have room to lay down their injured. He had just begun looking through the duffle bags under the back seat when he heard a car pull up outside. He stilled, keeping low to the floor of the van. He heard two doors slam shut, then silence. He peered up over the dashboard, expecting to see some more of Caroline's friends making their way towards the house.

Instead, he saw Mikael.

"Fuck," he swore, diving back down until he was practically lying on the floor. How did Mikael find them? He was so sure that they weren't seen at the diner, but how else would he have found them so quickly? Unless… unless someone told him where to look.

He took in a deep breath, fighting against the fear tightening in his chest, and rose to look over the dashboard once again. Mikael was almost at the door, flanked by a man and woman Kol thought looked familliar but couldn't place. Both of them held something in their hands, but Kol couldn't make out what it was. He tore his gaze away from them, looking back towards the car. It was hard to make it out at first, but after a moment he was sure.

There was someone in the backseat.

Kol shot back down to the floor. He searched his pocket for his phone, remembering too late that they had dropped their phones after the last job when sour, and hadn't had a chance to replace them. He knew he wouldn't make it into the house in time to warn them, so the only thing left to do was try to get to the person in the car.

Considering how quickly Mikael had managed to find the, he had no doubt Katerina had hinted that they'd be seeking out the Salvatores, so he'd tracked down Damon and tortured their whereabout out of him. The Salvatore brothers never could keep anything from each other, and Stefan had probably called Damon the moment he saw Elijah earlier that day. From the lack of movement he guessed that he bound and gagged or unconscious. At least the thought of that made him smile.

He was startled out of his thoughts when he heard a loud crash, jerking up to see where the noise had come from. Mikael and his lackey's still stood outside the house, but whatever the woman had been holding earlier was gone. The man lifted the object in his hand, and just before he threw it through the front window Kol realized it was a large rock.

It shattered the glass, sounding another loud crash, and then Mikael was pulling a gun out from under his coat and kicking in the front door.

"Shit, shit shit," Kol muttered. They hadn't brought any weapons in the house, and they only had the one in the van that they'd kept after their last job, but Kol couldn't even remember where they'd left it in all the confusion. He'd just have to hope Elijah and Rebekah would be able to improvise. Meanwhile, he would save Damon's sorry ass, if only to give himself a chance to kick it all over again.

l

"What was…" Caroline's last words were muffled by Klaus hand directly over her mouth, his other pressing a finger to his lips to indicate silence. Caroline nodded her understanding and he withdrew his hand slowly. She shivered at the feeling of his fingers brushing across her lips; caught the knowing look in his eyes even as his attention drifted towards the door.

There were sounds of a struggle downstairs, intermingled with voices but she couldn't make anything out. She was about to ask Klaus what was going on when a gun shot went off downstairs. Caroline had never actually heard a gunshot in real life before and all she could think about was that it was so much louder then in the movies. She was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt Klaus pushing her to get up, and realized he'd been speaking to her while she'd zoned out.

"…out the window, somewhere safe," he finished, but Caroline hadn't been listening to what he had been saying. He recognized the glazed look she wore, and cursed under his breath. Then he grabbed her firmly by the shoulders, directing her to look him in the eye. "Caroline, you need to climb out your window and go somewhere safe. Do not go downstairs, just run and don't look back. Do you understand?"

This time she heard what he was saying, but was too overwhelmed by the fear in his eyes to do anything about it. She began to shake, rattling the handcuffs that still fastened her to the bed. Klaus swore again, eyes searching the room desperately.

"Do you have a hair pin?" he asked, focusing back on her.

She nodded slowly, and was startled when he shook her non-too gently in response. "Caroline, I need you to focus. Where can I find a hair pin?" It was enough of a jolt to get her to focus on what he was asking, pointing to the bedside table next to him. Before she could even say they were in the top drawer he was scouring it violently. He quickly found what he was looking for, immediately turning and pulling her wrist toward him to fiddle with the cuffs. It didn't take long before she heard a small ping and the cuffs were falling away from her. She just had to time to wonder why she hadn't thought of doing that earlier, and then Klaus was pushing her towards the window urgently.

She stood up next to the bed, eyeing the window in front of her, but instead of feeling relief at finally having a way out she coulnd't help but feel concerned for what would happen to the Mikaelson's. For all she knew, one of them could be bleeding out on her kitchen floor downstairs right now, and ss much as she didn't appreciate being held hostage in her own home, it was clear they were in some sort of trouble and were only holding her out of necessity.

With that thought, she spun around to face him, hands placed firmly on her hips. "What will happen to you?"

Klaus shook his head. "It doesn't matter, you need to leave."

"But…"

"Caroline, get out!" he yelled, a surprising amount of panic lacing his words.

The more rational side of her seemed to finally clue in to the opportunity that was presenting itself, and she started to back up towards the window. As she turned and began fiddling with the latch, she looked out across her yard and recognized the car in her driveway. Immediately she spun around, her eyes wide as she said, "My friends are downstairs," the meaning behind that realization only truly sinking in as she said the words out loud.

Klaus' eyes held a dark look that told her he had already assumed that. "There isn't anything you can do to help them," he said, the callous indiffernce of his words sparking her anger.

"You can't seriously expect me to just leave them downstairs with some psycho with a gun who's trying to kill you," she bite out through clenched teeth, feeling more angry at him then she'd thought was possible to feel towards anyone.

"I'm afraid that's exactly what he expects, my dear."

She jumped at the unexpected voice, looking up and noticing a man standing in her doorway wearing an eerily pleasant smile. She heard Klaus practically growl the name 'Mikael', his whole person transformed by the pure hatred radiating from him. Mikael carried himself with the same quiet assuredness as Elijah, but there was a distinct darkness about him that she more associated with Klaus. The similarites were so distracting they drew all her attention away from the gun he held at his side until he cocked it. As he began to lift it up she thought at first that he was pointing it at Klaus, but as his hand rose higher she quickly realized he was actually aiming for her. Every nerve in her body was screaming for her to _do something_, but she was completely frozen in place.

"I have some unfinished business with my son," he said calmly. "It's my understanding that he's held you here against your will, and I have no desire to harm you. However, I'll only ask once that you let me deal with him and stay out of my way, or I will kill you."

She felt herself nodding, his words sending a chill down her spine. Her eyes never left the gun even as he pointed it away from her and towards Klaus. For his part, Klaus was now sitting up on the bed, any sign of his injury carefully hidden beneath a mask of contempt and hatred. Father and son continued to silently observe each other for what felt like hours, the tension in the room so thick Caroline felt herself holding her breath in anticipation of what was about to happen. She expected one of them to break the silence, so she was horrified when she saw Mikael's finger tighten on the trigger, clearly intent on ending Klaus life immediately. Before she could stop herself, she let out a horrified gasp, bringing his attention immediately back up to her.

Klaus used his momentary lapse in concentration to dive for the gun, just barely getting his hands around it before Mikael caught on to what was happening. He kept one hand on the gun and grabbed Klaus around the neck with the other. Klaus' grip loosed on the gun as he struggled to breath, loosing strength quickly. Mikael proceeded to move forward, pressing Klaus into the bed by pushing his arm into his injured side, but Klaus refused to remove his hands from around the gun even as he struggled against the pain.

Caroline sees it the moment his strength gives out entirely, his hands going limp around the gun, but Mikael doesn't back off like she expects him to. Instead, he shakes Klaus hands from the gun and drops it to the bed entirely. He then reaches up with his other hand and continues to choke him, both thumbs pressing harshly into his windpipe.

Klaus' face is red, and he's trying to gasp for breath that won't come as his eyelids begin to flutter closed, and his body starts to go still. The image is so disturbing it breaks Caroline out of her stupor, and she's moving towards the bed before she even realzes it. She reaches for the gun and it's surprisingly heavy; she has to use both hands to keep herself from dropping it, although that probably has something to do with how hard she's shaking.

"S-stop!" she yells, and realizes that her hands aren't the only thing that's shaking.

Mikael looks up at her in surprise, as if he'd forgotten she was even in the room, and his hands loosen enough for Klaus to draw in a strangled breath. "You're making a mistake," he says, just as calm as before. Then his hands tighten again and the gun begins to shake as she realizes she might actually have to shoot him to make him stop.

She takes in a steadying breath, forcing herself to focus solely on Klaus and how little time she has to keep Mikael from killing him. "Stop," she repeats, her voice a little steadier, but Mikael has already turned his attention back to Klaus, clearly ignoring her. "I said stop," she says again, but her voice is softer then it was before as she comes to terms with the fact that if she doesn't shoot him soon, Klaus will be dead.

Before she can change her mind she presses her fingers against the trigger, and for that one instant she's able to hold the gun completely still. The noise is deafening, and the force of the kick sends her sprawling backwards so she isn't able to see if she managed to hit him or not.

She lies there, on the floor, and it's as if time has stopped altogether. There's a ringing in her ears, and its so loud it feels like it hurts so she squeezes her eyes shut and tries to ignore it as best she can. The ringing dies down eventually, but there's a definite throbbing at the back of her head. She presses her hand against it, feels something wet and sticky but she just can't seem to think clearly enough to figure out what that means. She holds her hand out in front of her but her vision is starting to blur so she can only make out blotches of red before the blackness overtakes her.

TBC

A/N - I am completely OVERWHELMED by all of the lovely reviews I have recieved for this! Thank you so much for taking a few seconds to let me know what you think, even if it's just a few words, it really means the world to me. And to everyone who has said something about how much they love my writing style, that totally makes my life :) A lot of the time I feel like my writing is never good enough, so to hear that feedback is expecially rewarding and inspiring. Next chapter is already started, so while I make no promises, it should be up soon :) And I SWEAR I'm not making the chapters short on purpose, but for the sake of the flow of the story, that is how it's turning out. I'm working on making them longer, promise.


	9. Chapter 9

Elijah came to on the floor.

It took him a few minutes to recall what had happened to place him there, ignoring the tremors of pain flashing down the back of his neck and spine. He remembered that shortly after Caroline's friends had arrived, Mikael had shown up. He must have known they weren't the only ones there, smashing the windows as a warning before coming in guns blazing. It had given him enough time to signal Stefan to get Elena and the others out the back, and if they were lucky Stefan would have been able to hold them off from calling the police immediately.

Mikael had given Elijah and Rebekah little more than a glance before turning his attention to the upstairs, revealing that he had been watching them long enough to know exactly where Klaus was in the house. Elijah had stepped forward to block him from going after Klaus, and was immediately stopped by a hand on his chest. He looked from Mikael to the man who had blocked him, and was taken aback at the realization that he was staring into the eyes of his youngest brother's murderer.

"Long time, old friend," Brady said, removing his hand from Elijah's chest and straightening up to his full height. "Can't say I've been looking forward to this moment."

Elijah couldn't say anything, too shocked that his father would willingly share his company with Brady. Just the sight of him had Elijah clenching his fists at his sides, and the fact that he had just laid a hand on him made it that much harder to maintain control of the situation. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Rebekah trembling, and a fresh wave of anger coursed through him.

Mikael, upon realizing their attention was no longer on him, darted upstairs before Elijah could try and stop him again.

Elijah was further distracted when he noticed movement behind Brady, recognizing his girlfriend Jules as she stepped into the house. While she wasn't responsible for Henricks death like Brady was, she had put in considerable effort defending his actions, which Elijah and the rest of their family had felt made her just as guilty. They both looked ready for a fight, and normally he and Rebekah would have been able to handle his father's lackey's, but neither of them were prepared for the emotional toll of seeing either of them again. Deciding that the best approach would be to treat them as if they were no different than any other hired help, he launched himself at Brady, hoping that it would snap Rebekah out of her stupor so she would be able to defend herself against Jules.

Both Brady and Elijah were strong, but Elijah was faster so he managed to get the upperhand quickly, holding Brady up against the staircase railing with his forearm pressed directly against his throat.

Rebekah stumbled almost immediately, not able to hide the heartbreak she felt at seeing them, and Jules used this to her advantage. Pressing forward she dodged a blow from Rebekah, swerved around her and knocked her off her feet with swift kick to the back of her knees. Rebekah landed hard on both hands and knees.

Elijah could feel Brady weakening against him, close to passing out when he saw Jule draw a gun from the back of her jeans and point it at his sister. He was momentarily torn between helping Rebekah and ending Brady, only needing a few more seconds to ensure Brady 's death, but as he saw Jules finger tighten on the trigger he knew he didn't have the time.

Elijah let go of Brady, leaving him gasping for air on the floor, and turned to Jules. Her eyes flicked over to him, and she brought the gun up and away from his sister. Rebekah took that oppotunity to land a solid kick to Jules kneecap. There was a sickening pop, and Jules cried out in pain, her finger squeezing against the trigger. Elijah dove to the floor and the bullet lodged somewhere in the wall behind him, missing him by mere inches.

Before he even had a chance to get up, Rebekah had turned and sent her fist flying into Jules stomach, causing her to double over and drop the gun. Satisfied that she would be able to care of herself, he started to turn back to Brady when he felt pain rip through the back of his neck. He gasped as he stumbled back to the floor, his vision blackening. He just managed to make out Rebekah screaming his name when he felt another burst of pain and was enveloped in total blackness.

Now he gingerly looked around, vaguely searching for the object Brady would have used to hit him, but became sidtracked by how silent the house was. He couldn't see any sign of Rebekah, or anyone else for that matter. He dragged himself up, wincing as he felt pain shoot through his left arm. He must have fallen against it when Brady hit him. He moved carefully but quickly towards the front door, peering through the broken glass. He could hear sirens vaguely in the distance, but there was no sign of Mikael or the car he came in. He saw movement in the van, but before he could motion for Kol to come inside he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Immediately he spun around, sending a fist into the perpretrators shoulder.

"Elijah, it's me!" Stefan put his hands up in front of himself defensively, wincing at the movement of his arm.

Elijah nodded his achknowledgement, but didn't apologize. In truth it felt good to hit something and let go of some of the frustration he was currently feeling. "Where did they go?" he asked, looking towards the stairs. For the first time he noticed the trail of blood leading down them towards the door, and immediately feared the worst.

Stefan shook his head. "I don't know. I just managed to convince Elena and them to hold off on calling the cops until they got home and then I came back here. They were already gone." He peered behind Elijah, motioning towards the van. "They took Damon."

"With them?"

Stefan shook his head. "Before they got here."

Elijah nodded, putting the pieces together. "He told them where we were."

Stefan immediately made as if to defend Damon, but Elijah was already making his way up the stairs, two at time. The blood trail started at Caroline's room, and he hesitated briefly at the door, afraid of what he would find. He heard Stefan come up behind him and pushed the door open. The bed sheets were soaked with blood, and there was a sizable puddle on the floor, but no body. Both men made their way into the room, Elijah leading the way, to find Klaus lying on the floor next to the bed out of sight of the door, cradling Caroline against him. He was sheet white, and the front of his clothes were soaked through with blood. Elijah fought the urge to panic, forcing himself to look closer and realizing with releif that it wasn't coming from Klaus at all. His next thought was that it was probably coming from Caroline, and his mouth formed a grim line.

He knelt down next to Klaus, gently taking Caroline from his arms. Klaus sent him a look of such devastation it almost knocked him over. Elijah chose to focus his attention on Caroline instead, and quickly realized that while she was bleeding, there was no way she was the source of all this blood. The hair at the back of her head was sticky with blood, but he could feel the blood roughly clotted against her skull. That left few other options.

"It's Mikaels," Klaus said, his voice raspy. His throat was red, and Elijah didn't need to guess what had happened to him. "She shot him."

Both Elijah and Stefan started at his statement.

"She shot Mikael," Stefan said in disbelief, looking between the blond girl and Klaus. "Are you sure?"

Klaud managed a wry smile, before he broke down coughing. He clutched at his side, his whole body trembling in pain. "The kick threw her back and she hit her head. I don't know how bad it is."

Elijah hesitated before answering, running his hand along the back of her head again."She's not bleeding anymore, but she needs to be in a hospital. The police are on their way..."

"Elijah, we can't leave her."

Stefan looked between the two brothers in disbelief, taking Elijah's silence as agreement. "You can't take her," he said. "You do realize her mother is the sheriff. If you thought Mikael hunting you was bad, wait until you have Mikael and the entire east coast police force."

"She shot Mikael," Klaus said, the words almost sounding affectionate. "She saved my life."

Elijah nodded, knowing exactly what Klaus meant. While she was probably just defending herself, Mikael would not see it that way. He would think that she was in fact defending Klaus, that they had not been holding her agaist her will but that she had been hiding them and that would make her the enemy. Hee would probably assume that he could use her against Klaus. If that didn't work, he'd just kill her. Either way, her life was now in danger. The best thing they could do for her would be to find her a safe place to hide until they'd taken care of Mikael once and for all.

"We can take her to Finn and Sage. They'll keep her safe until we've dealt with Mikael," Elijah said, lifting her into his arms and cradling her against his chest. Some blood had begun to drip down her forhead, and he wiped it away gently. It looked vulgar against her fair skin, contrasted harshly with the peaceful expression on her face.

"We need to leave now. The police will pull up any moment," Stefan said, clearly not happy with the brother decision but choosing to go along with it. He knelt down next to Klaus, looping an arm under his shoulder.

Klaus struggled to grip Stefan, but was so weak he could barely make a fist. "You're coming with us?"

Stefan nodded, pulling Klaus up against his side with a grunt. "Kol saved Damon, so I'm we're in your debt."

Elijah and Klaus exchanged a slightly amused look at the thought of Kol _saving_ Damon, before Klaus' coughing brought an end to the moment. Elijah tucked an arm under Caroline's knees and lifted her up, cradling her against his chest. Then he led the way out, Stefan and Klaus struggling to keep up behind him.

l

To say Kol was mad would be wildly inaccuate.

To say he was livid would be an understatement.

Murderous, now that was more close to what Kol was feeling at the moment. He stood outside the van, pacing back and forth while Damon looked on, leaning heavily against the passenger side door.

"You shouldn't have held me back," Kol growled, his eyes flashing. "I could have gotten to her."

"Right, because they wouldn't have just shot you and taken her anyway," Damon sneered, wincing at the effort it took.

"They had dead weight to worry about," he said, referring to Brady having to half drag - half carry Mikael back to the car. The elation Kol felt at seeing him like that quickly fled at the sight of Jules carrying an unconcious Rebekah over her shoulder to the car.

He was already next to van at that point, having gotten Damon concious and out of the car. Damon had one arm around his shoulders, and immediately recognized his intent to drop him and head for his sister. Still being quite weak himself, all he could do to stop him was drop all of his weight onto Kol. It was enough to make him stumble, allowing Damon the opportunity to drop them both to the ground behind the van. Before Kol had a chance to get back up, Damon found the strength to roll them both right under the van, pressing his weight onto Kol to keep him from crawling out. He pressed a hand over Kol's mouth to keep him silent, wincing as Kol bit him, but keeping it there until he saw Mikael's car leave.

"If you weren't so useless we could have over-powered them," Kol seethed, stopping in front of Damon and clenching his fists open and closed. "You shouldn't have tried to stop me."

"Tried?" Damon mocked, rolling his eyes. "I think I more than _tried_ to stop you. In fact, you should be _thanking_ me for _saving_ your worthless life!"

Kol couldn't hold back any longer, lunging at Damon just as Elijah came racing out the front door of the house, holding Caroline in his arms. As Elijah reached the van, he found Kol and Damon rolling around on the street, each one attempting to get the upper hand. He stepped over them, pulling open the side door of the van and getting in so he could place Caroline on the floor gently. Once she was in, he stepped out and turned back to the house, ignoring entirely the two wrestling on the ground.

Stefan and Klaus were making slow progress from the house, so he made his way over to the other side of Klaus and slung his arm around his waist, taking the majority of Klaus' weight off of Stefan. The sirens were much louder now, only seconds away, so the moment they reached the the van Stefan jumped inside, pulling Klaus in along with him. Elijah stepped back and looked down at Kol and Damon, both now lying still and gasping for breath.

"Get in," he said simply, already making his way around to the driver's side. He was already in his seat by the time Kol and Damon managed to struggle up and into the van, Damon noticeably worse off than Kol, but both having clearly exhausted themselves. Stefan slid into the passenger seat as Elijah took a count of all those in the van, realizing that they were one short.

"Where's Rebekah?"

The look on Kol's face was a mixture of pain and anger, and it was all Elijah needed to see to know that they'd lost her to Mikael. Knowing there was nothing he could do about it at the moment, he turned on the ignition, and just as he was about to pull out Damon's hand shot out from the back to grab the steering wheel.

"Wait!" he yelled, and both Elijah and Stefan looked back at him before they realized he was pointing towards Caroline's house. More specifically, he was pointing at _someone._

On the sidewalk, just in front of the porch, stood Elena. And she was looking right at them.

TBC

A/N - I swear I didn't intend to make this one of the those stories that has a cliffhanger ending for every chapter, but turns out it totally is. Sorry! Next chapter is almost done, and I'm realizing that instead of longer chapters, I'm just going to start updating more regularly, hopefully that's a good compromise. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! I love you all!


	10. Chapter 10

"What the hell is she doing here?"

Kol's sentiment was shared by all the concious occupants of the van, and for a few precious seconds there was silence as each member thought through their options. Elijah quickly came up with three, none of them particularly favourable.

One: they drive away. Elena is left to explain it to cops, wherein she tells them that she was over at her friend Caroline's house when it was attacked, she left but came back to see Caroline's "cousin" fleeing the scene with the Salvators, Caroline also missing. The cops wouldn't have to look far before discovering that Caroline's "cousins" weren't who they said they were, and suspician would then fall on them for the attack and Caroline's disappearance.

Or Two: they take her with them. She wouldn't be able to tell the cops that they left after Mikael, so it would be assumed that Caroline and her "cousins" were taken by there attackers. Of course, they're identities would soon be unveiled, but at least they would no longer be the sole suspects in Caroline's kidnapping, splitting the blame with Mikael and his crew. At the very least, it would by them some much needed time to regroup.

Of course, going with option two would mean that they would also be kidnapping Elena which was less than ideal, and also led to a third option: shoot Elena. It was by far the messiest and most extreme option, and Elijah doubted any of the men in the van had the stomach for it, but it presented itself none the less.

Feeling the eyes of the other men land on him, one after the other, the sound of sirens growing steadily louder in the background, he came to a decision.

"Bring her with us."

Stefan was already halfway out the door, sharing a quick look with Damon, understanding passing between them without having to say a word. "Just give me a minute."

"You have 15 seconds," Elijah said, the words barely passed his lips before Stefan was sprinting across the lawn. Elena didn't seem frightened, mearly confused, making her way over to meet him. It took only a few words before she looked over at the van in obvious concern, and Elijah had to quell the panic that rose in him as it looked like she was about to run. It died down immediately as he watched Stefan take her hand, and they both sprinted back towards the van. Kol slid open the door, concealing himself against the backseat as Elena jumped in. She briefly took in Damon, kneeling on the floor, before her eyes drifted over to Caroline.

"Oh my god," she gasped, kneeling next to her. She immediately presssed two fingers against her neck, relieved to find a steady pulse.

Stefan was right behind her, slamming the door shut the moment his feet hit the floor with a muttered 'Go' to Elijah as he sat down at Caroline's feet. As the van veered out onto the road, the force of it throwing the occupants against the walls, Elena began to look around at them suspicously. The siren's peaked as they passed two squad cars and an ambulance, the Salvatores and Kol all slouching down to avoid bening seen, more out of habit than necessity.

Elena's eyes narrowed, her gaze falling to Stefan. "You said Caroline needed help, so why did we just let an ambulance drive by?"

Elijah looked up into the rear-view mirror just in time to see Kol reach under the backseat for their version of a 'first-aid kit'. He nudged Damon with his foot, pulling out a small bottle and tossing it to him just before Elena began looking around the van. She took in Klaus, lying haphazardly on the floor, and Kol, who was wearing a bored expression and lounging on the back seat. Damon hide the bottle in a fist, keeping his expression blank as Elena turned to look at him.

"What's going on?" she asked, clearly directing her comment to all even though she was still looking directly at Damon. This proved to be a problem as Damon was unable to open the bottle under her intense scrutiny. He shot a pointed look at Stefan, which did part of the work of drawing Elena's attention away from him.

"Elena, I can explain," Stefan said, forcing her full attention back on him. The second she was no longer looking at him, Damon slipped open the bottled, pulling his sleeve over his hand and emptying it's contents into the material.

Before she could utter another sound, he pressed his sleeve covered fist against her mouth, snaking his other arm around her waist to hold her still until the drug had enough time to work. She struggled against him for a minute before her eyes fluttered shut, her body slumping against his. He immediately released his hand, adjusting her body so he was cradling her againt his chest, her head tucked into the crook of his shoulder.

Elijah didn't miss the way Stefan looked away at the intimate picture they made, seeking out Kol's eyes in the mirror to confirm that he had seen it as well. Kol rolled his eyes at him and made a silent gagging gesture, earning a subtle smirk from Elijah. No matter the ridiculousness of it, however, they both knew that information such as that could be useful to them in the future.

"Where are we headed?" Stefan asked, moving up into the passenger seat.

"Buffalo," Elijah said, turning onto the highway.

Stefan nodded, assuming that was where Finn and Sage's latest hideaway was. "It's more than a days drive to reach them, and we'll need to stop soon to take care of Klaus and Caroline. Do you have a place in mind along the way?"

Elijah remained silent, and Stefan sighed in resignation.

"Crappy motel it is then," Kol muttered from the back, leaning back against his arms. "Oh joy."

l

The first thing Caroline realized when she opened her eyes was that she definitely was not in pain. Which was wierd, because Elena was hovering over her wearing a concerned look that made her feel like maybe she should be.

"How do you feel?" Elena asked, her eyes scanning Caroline's face closely.

Caroline nodded slowly, realizing that not only did she not feel any pain at all, but she actually felt pretty good. Kinda light and floaty, which brought on her second realization; she was most definitely drugged.

She pressed her hands into the bed she was currently laying on, intending to push herself into a sitting position, but the feel of the blanket against her fingers was just so soft she found herself sighing in pleasure and simply sinking deeper in. "So good," she said, grinning widely. She was sure there was a reason Elena wasn't smiling back at her, her forehead creased with worry, but Caroline couldn't for the life of her care less what it was.

"How much did you give her?" Elena asked, which confused Caroline greatly until she realized the question was directed to someone other than her. She craned her neck to the side, squinting in the dark room to make out a figure leaning against the wall.

"Enough," he said.

Caroline vaguely recognized the voice, but she was a little fuzzy on who it actually was, as he was standing too far in the shadows to see him clearly.

"Who are you?" she asked, pushing herself into a semi-reclining position to give herself a better view. The man took a step forward, a sliver of light hitting him from the half-closed window. "Damon?" she half-asked/half-stated. Her eyes were drawn to a glint at his side, and were she not drugged the sight of it might have scared her. Instead, she simply frowned and let herself fall back onto the bed. "Why do you have a gun?" she breathed out.

Elena's eyes narrowed at Damon as she shot him a look that was trying too hard to be disgust. "He's holding us hostage."

Caroline let out a bark of laughter, drawing a surprised look from Elena. "Obviously," she said, rolling her eyes. "But why does he have a gun? Isn't he like in love with you or something?"

Elena flushed slightly at her words, shaking her head aggressively.

"Oh come on, Elena," Caroline sighed. "He's not gonna shoot you." She cocked her head to the side, meeting Damon's smirking gaze. "So what's the gun for?"

He took another step towards them, causing Elena to shrink back on the bed before stopping suddenly at the sound of metal clinking on metal. Caroline rolled onto her side, peering over the edge of the bed and a smile lit up her face. Elena's ankle was cuffed to the leg of the bed. Caroline looked up at Damon, his amused expression sending her into a fit of giggles.

"Caroline!" Elena, at least, did not seem to find any of this amusing. "This isn't funny!"

That set Caroline off again, bending at the waist and clutching her stomach in laughter. She couldn't bear to look at either of them anymore, for fear she'd never breath again, so she rolled onto her other side, facing away from them and towards a second bed.

On it lay Klaus, looking far worse then she remembered. Her laughter stopped immediately, the sight having a somewhat sobering effect on her. She pushed herself up against the headboard so quickly she felt lightheaded, clutching the bedspread in a desperate attempt to cling to conciousness.

"How is he?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly as her vision went black for a few seconds before the dizzy spell passed.

"He'll live," Damon said, "Thanks to you."

Caroline nodded, but couldn't quite remember what she'd done to merit thanks. She thought back to the day before, being hand-cuffed to the bed upstairs, falling asleep with Klaus and then...

"Holy shit," she said, her voice startling both Elen and Damon. Elena reached out to her, but Caroline pushed her away, fully focused on Damon. "I shot him."

Elena's brow furrowed in confusion. "You shot someone?"

Damon achknowledged Elena's question with a slight nod of his head before pulling his attention back to Caroline. "You hit your head, passed out right after. He owes you his life," he said, pausing as he chose his next words carefully. "Which is why we couldn't just leave you there."

Couldn't leave her there? What did that even mean? Caroline puzzled over his words, bringing both hands up to rest on her head. The moment she interlocked her fingers realization hit her: she wasn't cuffed. She brought her hands down to her lap, finding no cuffs on her wrists. She peered down at her feet, and again, no cuffs. She looked up at Damon, feeling the edges of understanding creeping up in her mind but not able to grasp it all yet.

"I'm not cuffed," she said, only Elena looking surprised at her revelation.

"You were unconcious," Elena said.

Caroline shook her head. "That's not why."

Elena looked between the two suspiciously, clearly frustrated at being out of the loop. "Than why?"

Damon took the remaining two steps forward to bring him right to the edge of the bed, and for the first time Caroline felt afraid.

"You saved his life," he said softly, eyes flicking over to Klaus for a second. "Mikael isn't the type to forgive and forget."

Caroline felt herself begin to panic, her stomach turning uncomfortably. Damon placed the hand not holding the gun on her shoulder, squeezing lightly as he knelt down in front of her, his hand trailing from her shoulder, down her arm and to her hand, taking it gently in his. She noticed a flicker of what could have been jealousy flash through Elena's eyes, but it was gone so quickly she couldn't be sure.

"What happened, exactly?" Damon asked calmly.

Caroline took in a deep breath, thinking back to earlier that day. "We were lyi... um, talking, and then there was this crash downstairs, and a gunshot..."

"And when Mikael came into the room?" he urged her.

"He just, like, appeared at the door. Klaus told me to leave, but I realized my friends were already downstairs," Caroline said, nodding to Elena. "I couldn't just leave them."

Damon nodded, his impatientience showing through his calm exterior. "But what happened with Mikael?"

"He had a gun. He told me to stay out of his way, or he'd shoot me. He said if I did, he'd let me go," she said, remembering the cold look in his eyes and the frigidness of his words. "Was he lying?"

Damon hesitated for only a second. "Probably."

She took it as much needed confirmation that her actions were warranted. "He started to choke Klaus, and when he dropped the gun on the bed I took it and told him to stop."

Damon hissed in displeasure, dropping her hand as he reared back on his heels. "And then when he didn't listen, you shot him."

His reaction confused her. Isn't that what she was supposed to do? She turned to Elena, startled to see her wearing a similiar expression. "What?" she asked, mildly offended at both their responses.

Elena shrugged, trying to look supportive and failing miserably. "Why didn't you just run?"

Caroline's eyes went wide. "I couldn't because Mikael was_ killing_ him," she defended. Damon was now pacing the room in front of her, looking very much less than impressed with her. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Leave," Damon said shortly, turning to face her. "You should have run when he gave you the opening."

"I can't believe this," she muttered, shocked beyond belief. "Aren't you like friends, or something?"

Damon shook his head, glancing over at Elena briefly, and it all clicked into place for Caroline. "Wait a second, you're pissed because if I had just run, Elena wouldn't have come back for me, and she wouldn't be involved. You don't give a shit about me at all. Unbelievable."

"That's not why," Elena said, but the words sounded less than sincere, her having reached the same conclusion as Caroline. "It's just, they were holding you hostage, Caroline. You shouldn't have to worry about what happens to them."

Caroline glared at Elena, crossing her arms across her chest. "Seriously, Elena? Like you'd just stand by and let a helpless guy get strangled in your bed, no matter the circumstances."

Elena had the decency to look slightly embarrassed, but Caroline could see she hadn't changed her mind. "Anyway, now we're stuck here," Elena said softly, her choice to change the topic angering Caroline further.

"I hope you realize that both your boyfriends are in on whatever the Mikaelson's are guilty of, so you judging me for saving one of them is pretty low." Her words were meant to inflict pain, and she knew they hit their mark when Elena flinched in response. She felt slightly guilty at Elena's hurt look, but chose to ignore it by sliding to the oposite side of the bed and facing away from both of them.

The silence stretched on, which was fine with Caroline as she needed time to came to terms with her current situation. Yes, she'd shot Mikael to save Klaus, but surely he couldn't hold that against her? Even as the thought crossed her mind, she recognized how naive it sounded. He most certainly would blame her, and from the little she'd overheard about him, that meant she was in serious trouble. But they'd taken her with them, which sounded like they were willing to help her. Either that, or they thought leaving her behind would cause more of a problem. She chose to go with the first option, feeling that at the very least she'd bought herself some goodwill for saving Klaus life, as evidenced by the lack of restraints.

Now, all she needed what to figure out just how much shit she was in. She peeked over her shoulder to see Damon leaning once again against the wall, positioned so he had a good view out the window. The gun rested against his thigh, but his finger hadn't left the trigger since she'd first noticed it. It occured to Caroline that maybe the gun was actually there for their protection, which made her breath a little easier.

She took in her surroundings, surmising that they were in some motel off the highway on their way to ... wherever they were on their way to. Eventually her eyes fell back to Klaus. His neck looked red and raw, but Caroline wasn't sure if she was actually seeing it in the low light, or just imagining it. She tucked a hand under her head and sighed. Once Elijah and the others returned from whever they'd gone, she expected answers. Saving Klaus seemed to earn her some trust, and at the very least she thought she'd earned enough to get some actualy answers.

After all, how could she decide what to do next if she didn't know how much shit she was in in the first place?

TBC

A/N - Next chapter is a doozy, lots of questions answered, and almost entirely Klaus/Caroline, which has been lacking the last couple chapters. AND I didn't end on a huge cliffhanger, so yay ;) Thanks so much to every who has taken the time to review, I so appreciate the feedback and encouragement. I'm really trying to get out more than one chapter a week, but it just hasn't been happening. Thanks for your patience, I really am trying to get them out as fast as I can!


	11. Chapter 11

It was five days before Caroline got any answers.

To be fair, Elijah offered to tell her earlier, as soon as they got back to the room that first day, actually. But he'd followed that declaration with a very pointed comment about how it was Klaus who refused to leave her behind, with the implication that it was Klaus who should answer her questions. The only problem was, Klaus was still unconcious. She narrowed her eyes at him, at first believing it was a stall tactic, but his sincerity shone through, and she decided she could wait a little while longer.

Of course, a _little_ longer turned out to be a_ lot_ longer.

Klaus didn't regain conciousness at all that first day, or even the second. Caroline found herself growing more worried by the day, the tension between the Mikaelson's and the Salvatores growing along with it. Soon, Kol and Damon were taking turns in the van, neither able to stand being stuck in a cramped motel room with the other for long. Elena was ignoring both Salvatore brothers, choosing to respond only to Elijah, which seemed to put Damon in a worse mood then usual, and made Stefan go full-on-broody. Even Elijah was getting anxious, although she knew part of it was that he wasn't used to staying in one place for so long. Made then vulnerable, he'd said to her. She, at least, seemed to have reached a turning point with them, no longer being left out of conversations, and allowed to move about the room as she pleased, so long as she stayed in the room. Elena seemed particulary miffed about her preferential treatment, but although they tried neither of the girls were able to stay mad at each other for long.

For Caroline's part, she empathized with Elena's situation as it was still fresh in her mind how helpless she felt when the Mikaelson's first imprisioned her in her own home. Seeing how the others went out of their way to keep Elena from hearing even the tiniest hint of conversation relating to their situation weighed heavily on Caroline, so she found herself spending more time around her talking about trivial things and steering the conversation away from topics that would cause the other's to step in.

Klaus finally woke up briefly on the third day, managed to finish a glass of water and then was out again. Instead of alleviating some of the tension, it seemed to bring it to a peak. Caroline made the mistake of mentioning to Elena that Mikael had shot Klaus ealier, and when Stefen stepped in to end their conversation Elena blew up at him. Stefan, clearly unprepared for such an outburst, barely got a word in before Damon had uncuffed her from the bed and dragged her off to the bathroom, slaming the door behind them.

Caroline couldn't help but feel bad for the younger Salvatore, left standing by the bed wearing a look that was equal parts jealousy and devastation. Kol chose to retreat to the van, followed shortly by Elijah, leaving Caroline alone with Stefan and a sleeping Klaus. She struggled to think of something to say, but was unable to come up with anything that seemed to fit the situation. Besides, Caroline only really knew Stefan through Elena, and even then she didn't really know what their whole deal was. Elena and Stefan had dated, in the sense that they'd gone on some dates, but before they had started actually dating Damon had appeared and thrown that whole relationship for a loop. Now, Caroline wasn't really sure what was going on, since Elena hadn't really made a clear choice in either brother, although from the looks of things they seemed to be favouring Damon at the moment.

The silence in the room hung thickly around them, but Caroline wouldn't say it was entirely awkward, it just kinda was. Damon and Elena didn't come back into the room until Kol and Elijah had returned, and it was obvious that they'd come to some sort of understanding because Elena didn't even put up a fight when Damon re-cuffed her to the bed. Naturally, Caroline's mind wandered to what sorts of activities they could have engaged in to come to that understanding, and the only thing that stopped her from commenting on it out-loud was the forlorn expression on Stefan's face.

Klaus was up again on the fourth day, this time for a slightly longer period of time, but it wasn't until the fifth day that he truly woke up. It was some ungodly hour in the morning, and at first Caroline wasn't sure what had woken her up. Elena was sleeping peacefully beside her, Damon sleeping on the floor next to her, propped up against the side of the bed. Elijah stood watch over the door, whilte Kol and Stefan had gone out to get supplies for the day.

Suddenly she felt a hand press against her mouth and was startled to find Klaus leaning over her. He pressed a finger against his lips to indicate silence, shooting a look at the sleeping figures beside her. She nodded to indicate she understood, and he pulled his hand away as he leaned back heavily on the other bed.

Caroline scooted into a sitting position, letting her feet dangle over the edge of the bed as she waited to see what it was he wanted. He didn't seem to be in much pain anymore, and his breathing was certainly less laboured than it had been previously. Several moments passed without a word, and as her adrenaline from being hastily woken up was wearing off, Caroline felt herself grow agitated with him. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but a sharp shake of his head stopped her. He pressed another finger to his lips, effectively 'shushing' her, and cocked his head to the side. She followed the movement and her eyes landed on the bathroom door.

'Fine' she mouthed back at him, moving to get up from the bed. She hadn't taken more than a step away from it when she felt him come right up beside her, his hand resting on the small of her back. She started slightly and froze, definitely not prepared for him to be so close. He applied just enough pressure to keep her moving forward without causing her to stumble, allowing her time to get her bearings straight.

Once they were inside, Caroline took a seat on the edge of the tub and waited until Klaus had closed the door behind them. They're in complete darkness for a few seconds before Klaus flicks the light switch on, and Caroline mutters an 'ow' as she blinks furiously at the brightness of the fluorescent bulbs.

"My apologies." His voice is smooth and low and brings her focus back onto him. He's leaning casually against the door, looking more relaxed than she's ever seen him. She finds it the teensiest bit intimidating, but tries to hide that fact as she folds her hands in her lap and concentrates on getting answers.

"So... Elijah promised that you'd tell me what was going on," she said. "For real, this time."

Her tone and manner is all business, causing Klaus lips to quirk up slightly before he schools his expression into a similar one. Than he nods, crossing his arms across his chest. "I'll answer any questions you have, sweatheart."

So, she kinda looses her cool a bit, as his actions actually draw her attention to the fact that he's not wearing a shirt, and she swears that this time when he calls her 'sweatheart' it's so much more loaded, like it actually _means_ something. "Right," she stutters, taking in a deep, calming breath. "So, who are you?"

He raises his eyesbrows at her, and she shrugs in embarassment. "You know what I mean," she grumbles.

"I'm a professional bank robber."

Caroline's jaw drops. "Are you serious?"

Klaus nods, seemingly pleased with her response. "Me and Elijah come up with the plans, which we then execute with Kol acting as our third man, and Rebekah serves as our driver."

She looks for any hint that he's pulling a fast one on her, but comes up empty. "So you got shot pulling a heist?"

Klaus nodded.

"How exactly does Mikael play into that?"

"Kol had the bad sense to bring in outside help on our last job. She was someone we had dealings with in the past, not particularly pleasant ones, and for fear that we would turn on her, she gave us up to Mikael."

"You're talking about Katerina?"

If he's surprised that she brings her up he doesn't show it, nodding once again.

"I feel like there's more to the story than just that," she questioned.

He actually smiles at that. "I'm afraid Elijah is the one you want to talk to about Katerina."

"Fair enough," she says, "so what's the deal with Mikael."

It's certainly not as elegently worded as she'd like it to be, but she figures he gets the point. Klaus gives her a long look and Caroline starts fidgeting under his scrutiny so that when he finally begins speaking, she jumps a little.

"When I was 12, some men broke into my fathers office. My brothers and I had always suspected that he was involved in things that were, shall we say, not above board, but it wasn't until that incident that we really _knew_. My mother was unfortunate enough to walk in on them, and when they couldn't find what they were sent there for, they took it out on her," he said soberly. "When my father found out, he had the men searched out and brought to him. Then he called Finn, Elijah and me into the room, and... demonstrated what happened to people who made themselves enemies of our family." He watched her face closely, letting the implication of his words sink in before he continued. "It was our introduction to the family business, so to speak."

"Okay," Caroline said, slowly digesting his words. "So you were, like, part of the mob or something?"

"Something like that."

"So... what exactly does your dad do?"

"He runs guns across the border."

"Oh." She's silent for a moment, her next words coming out as more of a statement than a question. "So you all worked for him."

Klaus shook his head softly. "After that day, Finn refused to have anything to do with my father. He left with his girlfriend Sage, and they haven't had any contact that I'm aware of since. Elijah and I, we were too young and naive to go against my father's word, and from that day forward Mikael included us in most of his business dealings. It wasn't until recently that we'd severed ties."

Caroline's eyes bulged. "Wait a minute, you're saying you were 12 when you started working for him? You were only a kid."

The darkness that filled Klaus eyes literally took her breath away. "Not after that day." There was a weight to his words that made Caroline's stomach turn. The thought of him having to witness his father murder those men was gruesome enough, but she had a feeling that wasn't all that happened that day.

"From watching those men die, right?" she asked tentatively, clinging to the hope that that was all he was referring to.

Klaus looked away from her, and the silence that followed was tense. Caroline felt like she was going to be sick.

"You didn't just watch them die, did you?"

He met her gaze head on. "No."

Caroline couldn't breath. This was so much more than she was capable of handling. She could feel herself start to hyperventilate, and forced herself to take in deep breaths as she clutched her hands across her stomach. If Klaus took even one step closer to her, she was absolutely going to loose it. Fortunately, he seemed to understand her need for space as he kept in his place near the door. She looked up as soon as she got herself under control, not surprised to see him watching her closely.

"Why are you telling me this?" her voice so quiet it was barely a whisper.

"You wanted to know who we are," he said, just as softly. "You should know what we're capable of." There was definitely a sense of shame in his words, and she couldn't help but feel pity for him.

"Tell me what happened."

Klaus looked as surprised at her request as Caroline did. "Are you sure you want to know?"

She nodded without hesitation, and he sighed heavily before continuing. "When we got in the room, there were two men on their knees. They had been..." he broke off as he searched for the right word to use, "... questioned before we'd arrived. Mikael told us they were the men who'd hurt our mother, and then he handed Finn a gun. He showed him how to hold it, talked him through taking the safety off and what to expect when it went off. Then he pressed it against one of their heads, and told Finn to show them what happens to men who hurt our family."

"Oh my god," Caroline mumbled, pressing her hand firmly against her lips in shock.

Seeing how pale she had gone, Klaus decided to skip over the gory details. "The second after he'd pulled the trigger he tried to give the gun back to Mikael, but Mikael wasn't done. He turned to Elijah, and said it was his turn to prove his loyalty." Klaus paused, his hands dropping to his sides. "Elijah hesitated." He broke off again, clearly uncomfortable retelling this part of the story. "Mikael looked at him like... like he was the enemy, his own 14-year-old son," he said with disgust, finding a similiar expression on Caroline's face. His voice broke with his next words. "Elijah... he couldn't do it." The look he gave her then could only be described as desperate; pleading with her to understand what he'd done next without forcing him to say the words out loud.

It was obvious to her what had happened next; Klaus had taken the gun instead of Elijah, and carried out his fathers wishes.

For Caroline, it brought a certain clarity to all of their earlier interactions. Elijah deferring to Klaus, even though he was the older brother, the darkness that seemed to haunt Klaus whenever Mikael was mentioned, the way Klaus seemed to look to Elijah as a moral compass. She could feel the hate Klaus projected onto himself at his actions, and yet she sensed no such hatred toward Elijah. In fact, it seemed to her that Klaus looked up to Elijah for _not_ being able to take a life.

She was surprised to find herself empathizing with him, and while she couldn't truly condone what he'd done, she just didn't have it in her to hold him truly accountable for his actions. At that realization, she rose from her spot and moved to stand directly in front of him, taking his hands in hers.

"Thank you," she said, giving his hands a comforting squeeze that she hoped conveyed her understanding, "for telling me."

It seemed to be exactly the right thing to say, a shaky but relieved smile breaking out across his face. "It's not necessary, love," he said, bringing up a hand to brush her hair gently behind her ear. His hand curled around the back of her neck, tilting her head forward so he could press a kiss against the crown of her head. "I owe you much more than that," he whispered against her skin.

Caroline felt herself blush, but couldn't bring herself to pull away. Instead, she moved herself closer to him, resting her head against his shoulder. "I couldn't live with myself if he'd killed you," she said against his chest, surprised by the implied intimacy of her words. "I just mean..."

"I know what you meant," he said as he brought his arm up around her shoulders, hugging her to him as he rested his head against the top of hers. They stayed like that, unmoving, until they heard a commotion outside. Caroline felt him tense up, sighing in resignation. They broke apart, Caroline clearing her throat awkwardly as Klaus made to open the door.

"Um... do you think maybe we could just keep the hugging thing between us," she asked. "Elena's a little pissed at me right now, and I don't really want to add any fuel to the fire, so to speak."

Klaus just laughed, which Caroline chose to mean yes.

TBC

A/N - 200 reviews guy! Thank you so much!. This chapter is dedicated to Kassie46, just for being #200. I didn't think I was going to be able to finish this chapter before the weekend, but I was inspired by all your lovely reviews :) This chapter is kinda darker then I had initially planned out, but this story has kinda taken on a life of it's own. From this point forward, there is a lot more focus on Klaroline, and a swear it's not all gonna be quite so heavy. Hopefully their relationship is progressing at a believable rate, and there's actually a bit of fluffiness in the next chapter.


	12. Chapter 12

The moment Caroline stepped into the main room she knew something was very wrong. Kol and Stefan stood at the door with Elijah, all three looking ready to bolt, and Damon was up and uncuffing Elena from the bed. Caroline stopped just ahead of Klaus, and made to move to the side so he could pass her when she felt his hand once again rest against the small of her back, urging her forward. She took a reluctant step, then felt him come right up behind her and slide his hand across her back to rest on her hip. She could feel herself start to blush as everyone's eyes turned to them.

"What happened?" Klaus asked. His voice had an authoritative quality that drew all the attention to himself, and Caroline felt herself relax slightly.

Kol looked about to answer when a wave of Elijah's hand cut him off.

"The police have put up roadblocks," he said calmly.

She felt Klaus tense behind her, his hand tightening on her waist. "Do we have new ID's yet?"

Stefan nodded. "But there's an APB out on the van."

"Who are they looking for?"

There's an awkward silence as Stefan hesitated to answer and he and Damon shared a look. Caroline could practically feel Klaus' growing frustration, and she is sure it won't be long before he lashes out at the brothers. In an attempt to curb his anger she placed her hand on top of his against her hip, curling her fingers between his. He responded by pulling her back against his chest, and she feels some of that tension ebb out of him.

"Damon and I were involved in an... incident a few weeks ago," Stefan said, then hesitated once again to continue. Caroline felt herself about to roll her eyes until she saw Kol doing just that and stopped herself.

"Spit it out, Stefan," Klaus growled. Caroline could feel the reverberations of it through her back, and shivered involuntarily.

"The cops have Stefan's picture," Damon said. "That's why we were at the boarding house. We were getting our things in order so we could leave the country."

Everyone in the room looks surprised, save Stefan and Elena.

"As in, an artists sketch, or..." Kol started to say but broke off as Damon began to shake his head.

"They have his liscence."

The room was dead silent.

Kol looked completely flabergasted, while Elijah looked positively livid. She can only imagine what Klaus' expression looked like, as she'd never even seen _Elijah_ show more than a little irritation. She thinks she's followed the conversation pretty well, understanding why it's so distressing that the police would have an actual picture of one of them, but she's a little surprised because she was sure that they'd all have some sort of record if they'd been involved in underhanded things for so long. The way they're acting, it's like none of them have ever been caught.

That thought is more then a little daunting, and Caroline decided to ask Klaus about it latter.

"We'll need two cars." Klaus' voice was so calm it startled her. "Stefan and Kol will come with Caroline and I, Elijah will go with Damon and Elena. I'm assuming that by singling out Stefan's error, you're saying that you will not be recognized?" He directs his question at Damon, who nods his head in affirmation. "Good. Elena will ride up front with you through the check-point, and you'll take the western route..."

"No."

All eyes turned to Elena, who'd distanced herself a bit from Damon and was looking insolently at Klaus.

"You can leave me and Caroline here, and we'll give you a headstart before we call the police. We'll tell them that Mikael took us," she said. She's looking at Caroline like she expects her to agree with her, and Caroline realized that from her perspective Klaus' hold on her doesn't look protective, it looks threatening.

"I won't let you risk Caroline's safety," Klaus responded, and Caroline was a little surprised that he only mentionrf her and not his brothers. Elena seemed surprised as well, but that didn't seem to be enough to change her mind as she continued to stare at him in defiance.

Caroline felt Klaus loosen his hold on her and realized he's going for Elena. She pulled away from him quickly before he could stop her, approaching Elena with the softest expression she can muster, and took her hands in hers. "I can't, Elena. You heard what Damon said earlier, Mikael will come after me."

"Then we should be telling the police that," Elena said, her voice verging on desperate. Caroline could see in her eyes that deep down Elena realized thst they're right, but she's being her usual stubborn self and refusing to belief it.

"Elena, I'm so sorry you got dragged into all this, but we can't just back out now," Caroline said, giving her hands a comforting squeeze. "There's a lot more going on than you realize, and you're just gonna have to trust me on that."

Caroline could see her resolve start to crumble, the last piece shattering when Damon took a step forward, and placing his hand on Elena's shoulder whispered, "We need your help, Elena. _I_ need your help."

Elena closed her eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath, and when she opened them again she gave Caroline a small smile. Caroline let out a tiny squeal, and launched her arms around Elena's neck in a tight hug. Elena let out a strangled laugh and hugs her back. Before they pulled apart, Elena lowered her voice to a level only Caroline would be able to hear, and said, "Just be careful with him." When Caroline pulled back she saw no judgement in Elena's expression, only concern, and she smiled back.

"I promise."

l

They left the van at the motel.

Caroline found herself riding shot-gun with Klaus in one stolen car, Elena and Damon in the other. She figures it looks better for both men to be travelling with their 'girlfriends', even though she wonders why they aren't worried her and Elena will be recognized. Elijah, Stefan and Kol were relegated to the trunk for the first part of their journey; since the police had a picture of Stefan they couldn't risk him being identified, and her friends had probably given them a description of Elijah so he had to be hidden as well. As for Kol, Caroline had a feeling Klaus was still angry at him for whatever part he had in his shooting and was using this opportunity to punish him further.

They drove in silence for the first few moments, and it was comfortable enough that Caroline didn't want to ruin it by bombarding Klaus with more questions. However, being an impatient person by nature, soon enough words were spilling from her lips.

"Aren't you worried they'll have a picture of Elena and me?"

"They're looking for two scared girls who've been kidnapped. Just smile that pretty little smile of your they won't even look twice."

Caroline blushed, rushing out her next question to divert his attention. "So you've never been arrested before?"

Klaus shot her a sideways glance."No."

"Never?"

He shot her another glance, this time looking a little offended. "Is that so hard to believe?"

Caroline shrugged. "It's just, you said you've been in the 'family business' since you were 12, so I figured at some point you must have been arrested."

"We were very good at what we did," he said.

"So you're telling me the police have no idea what you look like? You could walk into a police station an no one would even be a little suspicious?" she asked incredulously.

"No Mikaelson has ever been caught on camera."

Caroline scoffed at that. "Like, you've never had a picture taken? That's not possible." His expression remained serious. "Oh my god, your not kidding."

"The risk was too great that it would fall into the wrong hands."

"But I've seen Stefan and Damon in pictures..."

"It was a rule imposed on us by our father," Klaus explained. "And Stefan and Damon were not raised in that lifestyle."

"So how'd they get into it?" she asked curiously.

Klaus smirked. "Katerina."

Caroline's eyes widened. "Seriously? Is that how you met them?"

"No," Klaus said, shaking his head. "We didn't know of Katerina's involvement with the Salvatore's until later. If we had, we would not have associated with them."

"So..." Caroline trailed off, looking at him expectantly.

Klaus chuckled. "You certainly are a curious little thing." Before she had a chance to get offended, he continued. "Katerina brought both brothers in on a job, then played them against each other to take the majority of the spoils for herself. Unfortunately for them, she was long gone before they caught on."

"So you never knew them when you were growing up? I mean, like when you were working for your dad?"

Klaus shook his head.

Caroline sat back, satisfied with the answers she was getting even though it seemed like her supply of questions was never-ending.

He turned to her after a few seconds of silence, and said, "May I ask you a question?"

His request threw her off. Afterall, he was the criminal here with the crazy family history. What could he possibly want to know about her?

"Um... sure. I guess it's only fair." She shrugged, hoping he couldn't see how hard she was trying to keep her cool.

"How long have you and Tyler been dating?"

The question automatically made her go on the defensive, squaring her shoulders as she crossed her arms over her chest. "That's not really any of your business." She realized how childish she sounded, but she just couldn' bring herself to care. Why was he so interested in her boyfriend anyway? Plus, if she was being honest with herself, she was feeling a little guilty because hadn't thought about Tyler for days. Until that very moment, actually, when he'd reminded her.

Klaus didn't say anything, and the silence that followed wasn't nearly as comfortable as it was a moment ago. Finally, curiosity got the better of her.

"Why do you want to know?"

"No reason." His tone implied the exact opposite, and Caroline narrowed her eyes at him.

"If you don't tell me, I'm going to think your making a play for me."

He cocked his head to the side, as if considering her remark, and she flushed.

"I wasn't being serious," she said, the words stumbling out and putting a smirk on his face that clearly said he didn't believe her. "But I still think you should tell me."

The smirk vanished as he let out a sigh. "I just found it surprising that Elena was the only one who came back to check on you."

The thought hadn't even occured to her. "What do you mean?"

"When Stefan got your friends out of the house, surely they'd known there was some sort of threat that they were escaping. Tyler was invited as well, if I'm not mistaken, and yet he didn't bother to see that you had also made it out."

"It was dangerous," Caroline said, the words sonding hollow to her own ears. "And someone needed to call for help."

"And yet Elena came back."

She hated the way his words made her think about Tyler, like somehow he was the bad guy. Of course Elena would come back for her, they'd been friends since they were in kindergarten. Sure, she'd known Tyler since she was little too, but they'd only been dating for a couple weeks. Plus, not everyone was as stupidly compassionate as Elena. She ignored the nagging voice in the back of her mind that told her if they're positions had been reversed, she wouldn't have left until she'd known he was safe.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Klaus said, his voice soft.

"I'm not upset," Caroline said stubbornly. "It's not Tyler's fault, he was just listening to what Stefan told him to do. Besides, he would have just put himself in danger if he'd come back."

She figured he would let the conversation end there, so she was surprised when he turned to look directly at her, his expression entirely serious.

"You deserve someone who would have never left."

She was saved from responding as they approached the roadblock, which was fortunate because she doesn't know what she would have said. His words leave her a little breathless, and she's not really comfortable with feeling that way about him.

Klaus did all of the talking when they were stopped, Caroline simply nodded and smiled when appropriate, and true to Klaus' word she was given barely more than a glance before they were waved on. They drove for another twenty minutes before pulling over and letting Stefan and Kol out of the trunk and into the back seat.

All four occupants remained lost in their own thoughts from that point forward. Caroline found herself dozing off shortly after passing the roadblock, the andrenaline from getting caught passing quickly and leaving her feeling exhausted. The third time she felt her eyes fluttering shut, Stefan passed his jacket up to her. She remembered to thank him before placing it under her head against the window, falling asleep almost immediately.

When she woke up, they were pulling up to a very expensive looking hotel. Klaus stopped the car directly in front of the entrance, and turned to look at Caroline.

"This is our stop, sweetheart," he said, pushing open his door and sliding out gracefully.

Caroline was too enraptured by the grandeur of the building next to them to fully process his words, startled when her door was pulled open and Klaus held a hand out for her. She placed her hand in his, letting him tug her out of the car and lead the way towards the front doors. She looked back over her should to see that Kol had climbed into the driver's seat and was now pulling the car back onto the street.

"Aren't they coming with us?" she asked, smiling politely at the doorman as they passed into the main lobby of the hotel.

"We'll meet up with them later," Klaus said, releasing her hand to slip his arm around her waist and guide her towards the front desk. Caroline was keenly aware of how out of place they both looked, both in jeans, Klaus in an ill-fitting T-shirt that Kol had picked up for him and Caroline's blouse so wrinkled it more closely resembled a scrunchy. A pretty young girl with red hair looked up at them as they approached, smiling nonetheless.

"What can I help you with today?" she asked pleasantly.

"I have a standing reservation under the name Odinson," Klaus replied, and Caroline tried not to look too surprised at his words. "The confirmation code is 378437."

The girl nodded, standing a little straighter at his words, her fingers clicking away at the keyboard at record speed. She looked up only seconds later, her smile a whole degree brighter. "Welcome, Mr. Odinson," she said, sliding Klaus a shiny black card across the counter. "The Chairman Suite is accessible from the elevator to your right, just show your card to the footman and he'll take you to teh appropriate floor. Will you be needing anything else?"

"No, thank you," he said politely, leading Caroline over to the elevator.

"You have a standing reservation here?" she whispered to him incredulously. "How can you possibly afford that?"

He stopped them in front of the door of the private elevator, pressing the call button. "It's not my reservation."

Caroline looked puzzled. "But..."

Klaus shushed her silently as the elevator doors opened and they were greeted by a young man in a hotel uniform. "Floor, sir?"

Klaus flashed the black keycard at him as he pushed Caroline in ahead of him, and the man immediately nodded and pressed a button to close the doors. The ride up was silent, and as soon as the doors opened the young man directed them to the last door on the right. Klaud thanked him, tucked Caroline's arm into his, and led her down the hallway to their room.

"So if it's not your reservation, who's is it?" she asked quietly, watching Klaus slide the black card into the door, the light flashing green before turned the handle and pushed the door open. He moved to the side to let her enter first, and just as she was taking her first step past the threshold his voice stopped her cold.

"It's Mikael's."

TBC

A/N - This chapter was a NIGHTMARE to write, but only because I literally had most of it written, then my computer shut off unexpectedly and being the dumbass I am, I forgot to save it. So then I had to re-write it, and as I was re-writing it, it took a totally different turn then it originally had. The conversation betwen Klaus and Caroline in the car wasn't even in the first draft, so I think even though it was a pain to have to re-write it, the end result was very much superior to that first attempt. The Tyler-thing had been bugging me, so there will be some more follow-up to that, and we are definitely headed towards a showdown of some sort. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for your patience, and your lovely, lovely reviews. I'm super excited about the next chapter, so hopefully that motivates me to get it done ASAP ;)


	13. Chapter 13

"Make yourself at home, love, I'll order up some dinner," Klaus said, making his way through the suite as though he'd been there hundreds of time's before. Which, Caroline thought, could very much be true.

"Wait a minute, did you just say that this is Mikael's room?" She stood just beyond the doorway, as if afraid to step any further in.

Klaus didn't even turn to look at her. He had already grabbed the cordless phone off the side table and leaned against the back of the couch as he began to dial for room service.

"And we're back to this," Caroline huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. She briefly considered walking over and ripping the phone from his hands, but as he began to give their order she decided against it. They'd have plenty of time to talk later.

The suite was huge, with a full living room and kitchen, and what looked to be a dining room table that could fit a family of six. To the left was the door that led to the bedroom, and with a quick glance towards Klaus, Caroline made her way over to it.

She pushed the door open and was stunned into silence. The room was massive, almost as big as the rest of the suite combined. A huge bed took up residence in the middle of the room, and across from it was a large screen TV mounted on the wall between two dressers. To the left was a fireplace with a large sitting area in front of it, and to the right was a balcony with another, albeit slightly smaller, sitting area.

Her eyes were drawn to another door between the balcony and the bed. She walked over to it, and pushed it open to reveal the most beautiful bathroom she'd ever seen. She peeked back over her shoulder to make sure that Klaus was still distracted on the phone in the other room, then slipped into the bathroom to indulge in a hot shower. The past few days had been so stressful the last thing she'd been concerned with was how grubby she felt. Now, standing under the warm spray of the shower, she felt completely rejuvinated.

She didn't turn off the water until she'd washed her hair twice and scrubbed herself down from head to toe. She dried off and decided against dressing back in her five-day-old clothes, and instead shrugged into one of the white robes hanging on the back of the door. She was combing out her hair when she heard a knock on the door.

"Shit," she said, startled into dropping the comb. "Give me a minute!" She looked over her appearance in the mirror, considering briefly throwing her clothes back on, but as she glanced at the pile of her discarded clothes on the floor she shook her head in distaste. She tightened the tie on her robe, took in a deep breathe and opened the door.

Unsurprisingly, Klaus stood on the other side, leaning casually against the doorframe and looking entirely too good for not having showered in the past five days.

"Hi," she said. "Did you need something?"

Klaus eyes traveled over her appreciatively. "You look lovely," he said, pointedly igrnoing her question entirely.

Caroline rolled her eyes, hoping to detract from the blush that painted her cheeks. "I look like I'm drowning in cotton."

Klaus chuckled, reaching out to curl a strand of her hair between his fingers. "You wear it well," he whispered, eyes drifting down momentarily to her lips.

The tension between them was so heavy, Caroline felt like she couldn't breathe. Unwilling to confront it, but unable to let it linger between them, she pushed past him into the bedroom.

"Well, I'm done in there if you wanted to take a shower, or whatever," she said over her shoulder with forced casualness as she made her way out into the living room. She listened intently for any sound of him attempting to follow her out, and breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the bathroom door click shut behind her. She turned back to confirm that he had, in fact, gone into the bathroom, and wasn't just playing mind-games with her, but the door was closed and he was nowhere to be seen.

"Thank god," she muttered, falling back onto the couch in the living room. She could swear that ever since she'd shot Mikael, it was like he was just _that much more_ intense towards her. It made his actions towards her back at her house seem like child's play. Not only had he been entirely candid with her since the motel, but he was making it pretty obvious that he was interested in her. Caroline just wasn't sure when he'd gone from 'making Caroline squirm for fun' to 'actively pursuing Caroline for real'.

Two sharp knocks on the door, followed by a man's voice calling out 'room service' brought Caroline to her feet. She peeked out through the peephole to confirm that they were who they claimed to be, then opened the door cautiously to let them in. One man wheeled in a large silver tray, followed by another who held several garment bags. They both looked to Caroline for direction, and she pointed to the living room. Once they'd placed their respective packages in the room, they looked to her for further instruction.

"Um... thanks," she said weakly, unsure of what else she was supposed to say or do. They either didn't notice or chose to ignore it, nodding to her before making their way back out.

Caroline closed the door behind them, sliding the chain into place as an extra precaution, then made her way over to the silver tray. She lifted up the lid and immediately her stomche growled as the smell assaulted her. All she'd had to eat for the past few days had been vending machine food and McDonalds, so the smell alone was absolutely intoxicating. Two steak dinner's were laid out before her, along with mashed potatoes and gravy, cooked vegetables and what looked to be a loaf of freashly baked bread. She sunk down onto the couch and curled her feet under her as she brought her plate to rest on her lap. She was so consumed with eating that she didn't hear when the bathroom door opened.

"Glad to see you're enjoying that."

She looked up to see Klaus standing next to the couch, wearing a towel slung low around his hips and holding a bottle of red wine in one hand and two glasses in the other. She shrugged, too hungry to be bothered by him at the moment. He took a seat on the couch diagonal to her, opening the bottle and pouring a decent amount in both glasses. He placed one on the table in front of her, earning a glare from Caroline.

"I'm seventeen," she said, sure he was going to call her bluff.

"Has that ever stopped you before?" he asked, eyebrows raised in a challenge as he leaned back into the couch and brought his glass to his lips.

Caroline pushed a carrot around on her plate, delaying the inevitable. She waited until he started on his own plate before she reached for the glass, catching a smirk on his lips as she took the first gulp.

"I know what you're trying to do," she said, setting her plate down on the coffee table in front of her but keeping the glass cradled between two hands.

Klaus shrugged noncomittedly. "I'm not sure what you're implying."

"You're trying to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me."

He seems amused by her accusation, but takes another bite before answering. "I suppose I should be offended by your accusation, but I can see how you would come to that conclusion since until now you've only been in the company of boys."

The way he put emphasis on the word 'boys' made her think immediately of Tyler, and while her first instinct was to, once again, defend him, she found herself unable to do so. The sad truth was, she can think of at least three instances since she and Tyler had started dating where he'd used alcohol as a way to 'soften' her up, so to speak, usually to coerce her into forgiving him for something he'd done.

It was really starting to piss her off, how Klaus was trying to make her see Tyler in a bad light, mostly because it was working.

"Like you've never done that before," she scoffed, waiting for the typical arrogant response along the lines of 'do I look like I need to get girls drunk to sleep with me?'.

What she gets instead is, "Not since I was old enough to know better," and she's a little floored by his honesty. He continued eating, as if it was no big deal, while Caroline struggled with her own feelings on the matter. The thing that was throwing her off the most about their dynamic, she realized, was that since she shot Mikael he'd stopped treating her like a seventeen-year-old girl, and started treating her like some sort of equal.

That unnerved her, for several reasons. First of which being that she'd never met anyone who treated her with that level of respect, and she couldn't help but find that intimidating. She'd been the bubbly-high-school-cheerleader for so long, she wasn't sure how to define herself outside of that. Then there was the fact that she had to keep reminding herself that he was _old_, because he clearly didn't have a problem with their age difference.

He'd finished eating by the time she was done musing over the wierdness of her situation, polishing off his plate in record time. She supposed he must have been even hungrier than her, having been unconscious and unable to eat for so long. She brought her glass up to her lips, surprised to find it almost empty. Before she had a chance to say anything, Klaus was already leaning forward to refill her glass.

"Thanks," she said as he leaned back to refill his own glass. Her eyes flicked over to the garment bags draped over the other end of her couch. "What're those?"

Klaus set his glass on the table and rose, making his way over to the bags. He opened the first one, revealing a pair of dress pants and a suit jacket. Caroline pushed herself up on her knees to get a better look.

He pulled them out of the bag and lay them along the back of the couch before he opened the second bag and revealed a dark grey dress shirt and black tie, which he also pulled out and lay along the back of the couch.

"Are those yours?" she asked. They looked more expensive than any suit she'd ever seen her dad wear, or anyone from back home for that matter.

"They are now," he said, already opening the third bag to pull out a powder blue shirt and sky blue tie that joined the other articles of clothing on the back of the couch. The fourth bag took her by surprise, as he pulled out a women's fitted white blouse and grey pencil skirt that looked like they were her size. Her suspicians were confirmed when instead of putting them on the back of the couch he handed them directly to her.

"What... where... no, how did you know what size to get?" she stumbled out, holding up the skirt to her waist.

"I can't take credit for that, love," he said, opening the fifth bag to reveal a dark metallic grey dress that he also passed to her. "Places like this, that's just part of their job."

She held the dress delicately in her hands, letting the silky material slide between her fingers. "You mean that girl at the desk? She barely even looked up from her computer."

Klaus shrugged, opening the final two bags. "She sized us up the minute we walked in the building, though I doubt she expected us to be some of her hotels most cherished guests." He pulled out two black pea-coats, and passed the smaller one to Caroline. He then reached into the bottom of the bag, pulling out two smaller clear plastic bags. He looked them over briefly, smirking at one before tossing it to her. Caroline let the coat fall to the couch, barely keeping from spilling her wine as she caught the bag. Almost immediately she realized what was inside.

"Oh my god!" she shrieked, pointing desperately at the contents of the bag. "She guessed by bra size?" She could make out two sets of bra's with matching panties, one dark and one light, both lace and so very far out of her price range. She squinted at the tags and realized they were, in fact, her size exactly, which made her feel strangely violated.

Klaus had already begun clearing up the empty bags, clearly unfazed by her outburst. He set them onto the couch he was formerly sitting on, taking a seat on the spot he had just cleared on her couch. The clothes hanging on the back of the couch still separated them, but it still unnerved her how much closer he was now. Especially because of what she was holding. She tucked the bag under the pillow she was leaning against, and folded her other clothes over the back of the couch just next to Klaus' pile.

"So you can just call down and order up whatever you want, food, clothes, under-things," she said, swirling her half-empty glass of wine. She didn't drink wine often, and she was already feeling a little light-headed from the first glass. She didn't really want to finish the rest of it, but she felt silly leaving it in front of Klaus.

"You can when you have a standing reservation at a five star hotel," he said, turning to face her by resting his elbow on the back of the couch and leaning his head against his closed fist. He finished off the last of his second glass of wine, placing it on the table in front of them. He glanced down at the still half-full glass in her own hand, and she felt the need to re-direct his attention.

"So... are you planning on explaining the whole, 'it's Mikael's' thing?" she asked.

"Are you afraid he'll find us here?" Klaus responded with a smile.

"Shouldn't I be? Aren't you, like, taunting him by staying here?"

Klaus eyes sparkled at her words, and she felt oddly touched by the approval that shone through them towards her. "I am, in a way, but we aren't in any danger. He'll still be recovering, and likely won't hear about this for at least a day or two," he said. "This used to be one of the many places my family used when we had business in town. If Elijah or I was using it, the reservation would be under the name Odinson, if Mikael himself was staying, it was under the name Odin."

Caroline squinted her eyes in thought. "Isn't Odin the name of some god?"

"My father has always been interested in Norse Mythology," Klaus said. "Once he finds out that this reservation was used under the name Odinson, he'll know I was here."

"What does that mean?"

"It means he'll know I'm not hiding anymore," Klaus said, a hard edge to his voice. She can tell he's thinking about Rebekah, most likely blaming himself for her capture. She looked down, tapping her fingernails against her glass. It drew his attention to it once again, and she could feel herself flushing as she just couldn't bring herself to take one more sip.

"Are you finished?" he asked politely, and as she nodded she couldn't help but feel foolish for making such a big deal out of something so inconsequential. He reached out and took her glass from her hand, his fingers brushing against her's lightly, swirling the maroon liquid around twice before pressing the glass to his lips and finishing it off. For some strange reason she found herself mesmerized by his action, her eyes lingering on his neck as he swallowed and his adam's apple bobbed. Once he set the glass down he licked his lips, and she found herself following the action with her eyes. She was struck with an incredible desire to lean over and taste the wine staining his lips, and was horrified when she realized she was actually already leaning forward before she caught herself. She straightened immediately, praying that he hadn't noticed.

"Are you still hungry?" he asked, and she realized he was referring to her unfinished plate of food on the table. She managed to shake her head, still not over the humiliation of what she'd almost caught herself doing. He slid forward on the couch, reaching over her to collect her plate. He was so close, all it would take was a slight nod of her head and her lips would touch his skin.

He pulled back, those few seconds feeling much longer then they actually were, and placed her plate back on the tray along with his own. He stood to wheel the cart out into the hallway. She congratulated herself on only peeking at him out of the corner of her eye as he moved across the room, avoiding full-out staring. As he made his way back over to the couch she realized he was grinning, and that perhaps her stealthy glances in his direction hadn't actually been so stealthy.

Klaus took up his previous space on the couch, only this time when he cocked his head against his fist Caroline had a pretty good idea he knew exactly what he was doing.

"So how old are you?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the armrest.

Klaus laughed. "That's what's been bugging you this whole time?"

"Of course it's been bugging me," she said. "Why, are you afraid to tell me?"

Oddly enough, he did look a little nervous at her question. He brought his right hand up to cup the back of his neck, which Caroline found to be completely adorable, and actually looked quite pensive for a few seconds. "I'll be twenty-two next month," he said finally, dropping his hand to his side.

Caroline was actually a little surprised. "You're the same age as Damon."

Klaus nodded, although he didn't look too happy with being compared to the older Salvatore. He still looked a little unsure of himself, and Caroline couldn't deny that she was a little delighted by the fact that it really seemed to matter to him what she thought of him.

"I promise I won't look at you any differently now that I know," she giggled, and was rewarded with a look of relief. It did make her wonder one thing though. "Are you not weirded out at all that I'm seventeen?"

"You mean because I fancy you?"

She blushed bright red at his confirmation. "You can't say that!"

"Why not?"

"Because..." she started, unsure of how to make him see reason. Bringing up Tyler seemed like a lost cause, so she went with her next best option. "Because I'm seventeen, and you're twenty-one."

"Caroline," he said, sliding forward on the couch, "Being seventeen doesn't define who you are as a person."

The funny this was, Caroline had always thought that her age did define her. "Of course it does," she said softly. "I'm a seventeen-year-old high school cheerleader. That's who I am."

Klaus slid even closer, reaching out to cup her cheek gently with his hand. "You go to high school, and you participate in cheer-leading, but that's not who you are. You are someone who will defend and protect the people you care about, even when they don't deserve it. Someone who will put her life on the line for a perfect stranger just because it's the right thing to do. You fight even when you know you can't win, because you have an unyielding spirit. You have a light about you that makes ever room you walk into that much brighter. Yes, Caroline, you are seventeen. But seventeen is just a number."

She didn't realize she'd been holding her breath until he'd finished speaking. He stroked his thumb along her cheek as she let out a shaky breath, fully expecting him to kiss her right then. So when he began to pull back instead, Caroline panicked and did the first thing that came to mind.

_She_ kissed _him._

TBC

A/N - Oh man, so sorry! But this chapter was super long, so I decided to split it in two. The plus is, the next chapter just needs to be proof-read and then it's ready to go so it should be up super quick. Thank you so, so, so much to everyone who reviewed, words cannot express how much of a motivator all your lovely reviews are! I really don't have much more to say, except that I hope this chapter is as enjoyable to read as it was to write :)


	14. Chapter 14

The minute her lips touched his, Klaus let out a gasp of surprise.

Caroline pulled back immediately, eyes snapping open, and stopped only when his hand curled around the back of her neck to hold her in place. She met his gaze head on, unable to decipher all the emotions swirling around in his eyes.

"What was that, sweetheart?" he asked, his voice low and gravely.

"I thought you were going to kiss me," she said softly.

"So you decided to beat me to it?"

Caroline shrugged half-heartedly. "I got tired of waiting."

Klaus laughed, and she felt the vibrations of it through his chest against her open palms. It felt good to be the cause of that, even if he was sort-of laughing at her. He brought up his other hand to brush her hair behind her ear, grinning widely at her.

"Does that mean I'm not too old for you?" he asked, brushing his thumb across her lips.

She shivered at the sensation, shaking her head. "No."

"Good."

Not a second after the word was out of his mouth, his lips were pressed up against hers once again, only this time she was the one gasping in surprise. Instead of using that as an opportunity to deepen the kiss, he slowly moved his lips against hers, easing her into it. She felt her whole body flush with heat, down to the tips of her toes, and the longer he kissed her the more dizzying the sensation became. She could tell from the way he kissed he had plenty of practice, but nothing about it felt mechanical or rehearsed. She was overwhelmed by the emotion she felt coming from him, and just when she was sure she couldn't take the tortuous pace anymore, she felt his tongue press against her closed mouth.

She sighed into the kiss, opening her lips against his. She felt his fist curl in her hair, moving her head just slightly to the side to bring their lips that much closer together. He curled his tongue past her lips, pressing against her's sensually and then pulling back. He repeated the motion several times, heat pooling in her at what it simulated, until she worked up the nerve to tentatively press back against him. He groaned deep in his throat, crushing his lips against hers one final time before pulling back entirely.

Caroline felt the loss immediately, her hands falling from his chest as his hands dropped to his sides, both gasping for breathe. Caroline brought a hand up to her lips, in disbelief of what had just occurred; she'd just made out with Klaus. "Holy shit."

When Klaus started laughing breathlessly, she realized she'd said that last part aloud.

"I'd have to agree with you," he said.

"You weren't supposed to hear that."

"And why is that?"

"You don't need the ego boost."

"Would it make you feel better if I told you that was best kiss I've ever had?"

It did make her feel better, and it also made her think about when they would be able to do it again. "So why'd you stop?"

He reached out to stroke her cheek with the back of his hand, looking at her with an inquisitive expression. "I'm beginning to wonder that myself." Even though the tension in the room was anything but resolved, there was a not-entirely-uncomfortable silence between them. It was broken when Caroline pulled away from him to lean against the back of the couch with a heavy sigh. His hand dropped away as he mirrored her action, watching her closely.

"This is seriously intense," she said. Klaus didn't respond, but she could see from his expression that he felt the same. "So what do we do now?"

"You mean about this?" he asked, pointing between the two of them.

She nodded, her chest tightening in anticipation of his response.

"Well, I suppose before we go any further, you should break up with your boyfriend," he said seriously, but there was a glint in his eyes that told her he was definitely enjoying it.

Of course, she'd once again forgotten that she'd even had a boyfriend, so her jaw dropped a bit at the realization that she'd kinda just cheated on Tyler. "I am a horrible person."

He was full out grinning at her. "You're adorable."

She ignored his compliment, burying her face in the couch cushions. "What am I going to do?" she bemoaned, turning her head just enough so she could peek out at Klaus.

He didn't seem nearly as upset as her, which she supposed was understandable since she was the one with the significant other, but honestly she expected at least a little sympathy. Instead he just shrugged at her, like it was no big deal. She sat up sharply in response, glowering at him.

"Nothing? Really?" she demanded. "That's super helpful."

"What do you want me to say?" he laughed.

"I don't know," Caroline said. "Just... something."

"Ah," he said, "Something like, don't worry, I'm sure he'll understand?" Caroline nodded. "Well sweetheart, from what I've heard of Tyler he doesn't seem like the most understanding individual."

Caroline stuffed her head back in the pillow with a groan. "You're not helping."

Klaus sighed, shrugging. "He's still young, so he'll hate you for a bit and then he'll get over it."

"I don't want him to hate me," she mumbled, her voice barely distinguishable through the couch cushions.

"Love, he had it coming."

She turned her head again, peeking out at him. She knew he was referring to Tyler leaving her at the house, but she knew that Tyler wouldn't see it the same way. It's not like they were epically in love or anything, but Caroline despised being disliked. And to say Tyler would _dislike_ her after she broke up with him was a severe understatement.

She pulled herself back to rest against the armrest. "Fine. I'll break up with him as soon as I get home."

Klaus looked like he was about to object to the delay, but stopped himself before the words left his lips. She'd asked Elijah about contacting anyone back home while they were stuck at the motel, and he had made it very clear that it was out of the question. She'd tried to make a case for at least letting her mother know she was safe, but he'd implied that it wasn't just for their safety that they stay out of contact. While they'd always had a tumultuous relationship, she still didn't like to think of her mother sitting at home worrying about what was happening to her, so since then, she'd pushed the thought of her mother out of her mind.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow?" she asked, pushing all thoughts of Tyler and her mother from her mind. "I assume you have a plan, what with the fancy clothes you got us."

"We're meeting some business associates tomorrow," Klaus said, looking over the clothes still resting on the back of the couch.

Caroline couldn't help the little flutter of anticipation she felt at his use of the word 'we'. It felt good to be included. "Business associate of yours or your father?"

"Both," he said. "We're meeting my father's old lawyer, Alaric Saltzman, for brunch. He used to handle my father's legitimate business dealings, until my father attempted to coerce him into becoming involved in his other, not-above-board dealings, and he ended his association with my family."

Her eyebrows raised at his last point. "It doesn't sound like you're on very good terms with him."

"I'm not," he said. "Elijah, however, is."

Caroline read between his words, easily surpmising what he was getting at. "So what's Alaric going to do when instead of meeting Elijah, you show you?"

Klaus smirked. "That is where you come in. He'll meet you at the table first, and after he's settled..."

"You'll walk in," she finished for him. "How do you know he won't just blow you off?"

"I don't," he said. "That's why I've chosen a place I know some of his more high-class clientele frequent, so that even if his first inclination is to walk out, he'll stay because he won't want to make a scene."

"What's so special about him," she asked curiously. "I mean, if he's your dad's former lawyer, how is he supposed to help you find him now?"

"I'm not looking for Mikael."

"Wait, you said yesterday you weren't running anymore. I thought that meant you were going after Mikael?" she said, clearly confused.

"To go after Mikael, I need to be three steps ahead of him," Klaus said. "That means first, I need to track down Katherine before he does."

"What does Katherine have that's so important?"

"Besides the uncanny ability to fuck up my life?" Klaus intoned, his voice sounding overly bored so that his cursing shouldn't startle Caroline, although it still did. "She stole some plans for a job we were going to pull next week. Whether she pulls it off herself of hires someone else to, those plans will lead back to us, which means we'll go down for it. And I have no doubt she'll send them into the police herself, that is if she doesn't decide it to be more fortuitous for her to send them to Mikael instead."

"And Alaric has information about Katherine?"

"Alaric's ex-wife Isobel is Katherine's closest friend."

"So once you find Katherine, then what?"

"Then we'll meet up with the others at my oldest brothers place and go after Mikael."

Caroline nodded. "What happens when you find Mikael?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wished she could take them back. She was pretty sure she didn't actually want to hear the answer to that question, and Klaus sent her a look that said as much. "Nevermind."

Their conversation hit a lull, and Klaus stood up from the couch, reaching a hand out to help her up as well. "We should get some sleep," he said, gripping her hand in his gently as he pulled her to her feet.

"I dont suppose they sent up some PJ's?" Caroline joked, sounding a little too hopeful.

Klaus shook his head, stepping behind the couch to gather her clothes up in his arms. "I think they assumed we wouldn't be needing any." He looked up at her just in time to catch her blushing. "I can give you one of my shirts to sleep in."

She nodded gratefully, the thought of sleeping next to Klaus naked was just too much for her to handle at the moment, and he pulled the powder blue shirt out from his stack and tossed it to her.

"You can take the bedroom," he said, already walking towards it with her clothes in hand.

Caroline froze. "But..." she started, trailing after him. "What about you?" They'd slept in the same bed before, although he was quite injured and she wasn't given much of a choice, but she had just assumed they would be sharing the gigantic bed in the other room. She could feel her own insecurities build up as she wondered through all the reasons that he wouldn't want to share a bed with her.

Afterall, didn't be say he _fancied _her?

She was so lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice he was moving until he was already halfway through the door into the bedroom.

She scurried after him, and watched as he set her clothes down on the bed before turning back towards the living room.

"I'll take the couch," he said.

She tried, she really did, to try and hide her disappointment at his words, nodding quickly and putting on a brave face, but as she made her way over to the bed he caught her arm with his hand, tugging her up against him.

"What's the matter?" he asked, weaving his hand through her hair. The feeling of his fingers against the base of her skull sent shivers down her spine, and she was so tempted to just boost herself up the extra inch and press her lips against his.

Instead, she forced a smile and simply said, "Nothing," but her voice was too bright and cheerful for her to sound remotely truthful.

"Darling," he growled, and she was only a little ashamed to say that her eyelid's definitely fluttered a bit at the sound, "Lying is not a very good way to start off a relationship."

Her eyes widened a bit in surprise. "So... you'd call what we're doing here," she said, her hand motioning between the two of them, "a relationship?"

His eyes softened, and he pulled her even closer. "You don't deserve anything less."

She couldn't stop herself from beaming at him, a ridiculously silly grin spreading across her face. "Okay," she said, realizing that she must seem extremely childish to him. She looked down bashfully, and said softly, "I just wan't really sure, with you not wanting to sleep..."

He cut her off abruptly by pressing his lips against hers, in a kiss that was brutal and passionate. She opened her mouth against his immediately, their tongues clashing against each other, and snaked her hand around his neck to bring him closer. His hand clenched in her hair, and she dug her nails into the back of his neck, eliciting a groan.

She felt him push her backwards, walking her towards the bed. Her other hand gripped his hip, pressing herself completely flush against him as she followed his lead. She could just feel the bed press into the back of her knees, when she heard the towel hit the floor.

However it came undone, it was exactly what she needed to snap her back to reality. She jumped back, barely managing to stop herself from glancing downwards. She squeezed her eyes shut, slapping her hands over them to shield her blush. She could hear him breathing heavily just in front of her, followed by a shaky laugh.

"That, love, is why I'm not sleeping with you tonight," he said, and she spread her fingers apart just enough to peek through at him. "Not because I don't want to, but because the thought of you in my shirt and nothing else is more than I'm capable of handling at the moment."

She nodded quickly, squeezing her fingers closed again. "I get your point, now can you please put something on?"

He laughed. "Why don't I just say goodnight, and I'll see you in the morning?" He leaned forward to press a gentle kiss against her forehead, and then left the room.

Caroline waited until she heard the door shut before dropping her hands and opening her eyes. She immediately fell backwards onto the bed. It was a little overwhelming how intense this whole _relationship_ between them was. At least one of them had the good sense to think about slowing things down, because she was _not _ready for ... _that_ type of physicality yet._  
_

Finally tired of thinking over the same things again and again, she decided to stop obsessing and get ready for bed. She pushed herself up and immediately stepped on something soft. Caroline looked down and immediately cursed.

He'd left the towel on the floor.

A/N - Next chapter we get to hear from the rest of the Mikaelsons (or some of them), which should be interesting. Still lots of Klaroline to come, as they are progressing along rather nicely. Although they will also hit their first major road-bloack in the next coupe chapters, so there's that too. I love you all so much for your reviews! Thank you so much!


	15. Chapter 15

Elijah got the call shortly after midnight.

They'd made it to Finn and Sage's an hour earlier, and Sage had immediately taken Elena aside. Under the guise of offering comfort, she brought Elena a drink laced with a sedative. As Elena brought it to her lips, Sage motioned subtely towards Damon. Elijah shook his head, and although Sage didn't seem to agree with him she didn't offer Damon anything.

Elijah didn't trust Damon, but he preferred to give the illusion of trust so long as they had Elena to use against him should he step out of line.

It didn't take long for the drug to take effect, displeasure at the realization of what they'd done written all over Damon's expression as Elena's eyes fluttered shut. Sage suggested to Damon that Elena would be more comfortable in one of the bedrooms upstairs, and he took the hint with surprisingly little griping.

As soon as he left the room, Elijah recounted a slightly edited version of everything that has transpired in the past few days, keeping the part about Rebekah's kidnapping and the extent of Caroline's involvement in Mikael's shooting to himself for the time being. It took longer than he had anticipated, as up to that moment he hadn't given much thought to the amount of things that had happened in the past week. Once he had finished, and before either Finn or Sage could ask a single question, his phone went off.

"It's done." Stefan's voice was hollow, which was only slightly more worrisome than the fact that it was Stefan who was calling, and not Kol.

"Where are you?" he asked curtly.

"Just leaving Phillidelphia," he said. "We should be there by morning."

Elijah immediately felt relieved at Stefan's words. "What happened?" He didn't say 'to Kol', though it was heavily implied.

Stefan paused, and Elijah could imagine him wincing on the other side of the line. "He's... a little out of it. He took some pretty heavy hits."

Elijah turned his back to his brother, hoping that he was able to conceal his concerned expression successfully. If Finn knew the full extent of all the setbacks they'd faced so far, Elijah had no doubt he'd refuse any further help. While Finn was willing to help them to a certain extent, ultimately he didn't share the deep sense of famillial loyalty that the rest of his siblings did.

Finn was loyal to himself and Sage, and felt little obligation to help his other siblings because of it. It was that point of contention that so clearly separated Finn from Klaus, and why both brothers were unlikely to ever come to an accord.

Klaus, for all his faults, was fiercely loyal to his family. It was this quality that drew Elijah and Rebekah to his leadership, and at the very least it was clear that Kol considered it enough to endure Klaus' constant disbaragement towards him. At the end of the day, Klaus would give his life for any one of them, and Finn's blatent disregard for that bond was seen as the ultimate sin in his eyes.

Elijah could understand Klaus' hatred for Finn, and in a way he envied it. He was unable to feel anything less than disappointment, as Finn had done the one thing that he had always wished he would've been strong enough to do: break free of Mikael completely.

When Finn had left, Mikael had barely acknowledged it; in fact, he'd never sent anyone after Finn at all. He'd been allowed to live in relative peace as Mikael made it clear he disowned any connection to him. Elijah had wondered many times what would have happened if they had left with him; would Mikael have hunted them down? Or would they have been left alone? Was it that Mikael cared less for Finn then his other children? Or perhaps the incident that drove Finn from their home was simply a test, and his reaction to it made Mikael feel like he had no obligation to pursue him further.

Elijah doubted he would ever find the answers, especially if Klaus' plan worked.

"Get here as soon as you can," Elijah finally said, keeping his voice as steady as possible. He didn't give Stefan a chance to answer, disconnecting the call to turn and face the other occupants of the room. At some point during the call Damon had stepped back into the room, and was now leaning against the door frame, looking expectantly at Elijah.

"What does my brother have to say?" he asked dryly.

Elijah looked directly at Damon as he answered, saying very precisely, "They'll be here by tomorrow morning. Everything is going as planned."

He could almost see the wheels turning in Damon's head. "As planned, huh?"

Elijah nodded softly, and could see that Damon understood. _Be careful what you say in front of them._ At this point, Damon was a better ally than either Finn or Sage, since he had more on the line.

"So you need a place to lay low for a few days," Sage said. "Because that's all we're offering."

Elijah could see Damon bristle at her words, and was quick to step in. "Thank you, Sage," he said, nodding to Finn as well. "We appreciate it. Two days at the most, and then we'll be gone."

"Sage, would you be so kind as to show Damon where he'll be staying tonight," Finn said, the first words he'd spoken all night. "I'd like to speak with my brother alone."

Sage shared a look with Finn, an understanding passing between them. She made her way over to him, pressing a hand against his chest as she leaned up gracefully to press a kiss against his jaw, whispering something against his skin before pulling back. She shot a calculated smiled at Elijah as she looped her arm through Damon's, than led him out of the room.

The silence that filled the room was anything but comfortable. Elijah and Finn got on reasonably well, but that was more out of necessity then a genuine connection. In reality, they had very little in common.

"What's Klaus planning?" Finn was studying him closely, leaning against his desk with his arms folded across his chest.

"Why the interest?" Elijah asked casually. "You've never asked before."

"You've never gone after Mikael before."

Elijah's eyes darted up to meet Finn's, unable to hide his surprise.

"Where did you hear that?"

Finn shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

"You know it does," Elijah seethed, barely able to contain his rage at his brother's clear indifference to their plight.

Finn didn't respond.

"He took Rebekah."

That forced a reaction out of him, just as Elijah knew it would, a myriad of emotions playing across Finn's face. "When?"

"Shortly after we were attacked at the Sherrif's house," Elijah said. "You know he'll use her to get to Niklaus." He knew appealing to Finn's sense of brotherhood was more than useless, but Finn had formed an attachment to Rebekah, having sheltered her for a time after their mother's death.

"You weren't planning on telling me," Finn said angrily, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Klaus didn't think you needed to know."

"Niklaus," Finn sneered. "Still following his every word, I see?"

Elijah ignored his comment. "Who told you?"

There was a lengthy pause between them, Finn clearly battling with himself over whether to reveal his source or not. Finally, after letting out a deep sigh, he caved. "Jules."

It was the last person he expected, not least of all because she was so closely associated with his little brothers death. "You'd side with her over your own family?"

"Sage is my family," Finn said simply.

Elijah felt the first strings of hatred course through him. "We are your family. _Rebekah_ is your family."

Finn was silent, before answering almost hesitantly, "You can stay here for two days Elijah, and that's all. I won't drag Sage into your mess."

"Getting rid of Mikael benefits you as much as it does us."

"What makes you think this time will be any different, Elijah? How long has Klaus been promising you a Mikael-free world?" Finn shook his head. "You can't beat him."

It was useless to argue with him when he'd already made up his mind, but Elijah still had to push down the urge to fight back. "I don't agree, which leaves us at am impass."

Finn nodded, taking the olive branch Elijah was offering. "Then we have nothing more to talk about. You can see yourself upstairs."

Elijah lingered a moment longer in the room after Finn had left, reigning in his anger before heading upstairs. He found Damon in the guestroom, sitting on the edge of the bed next to where Elena lay. As soon as he caught Damon's eye he cocked his head to the side, motioning towards the hallway. Damon brought Elena's hand to his lips, placing a kiss against her skin before he rose to follow Elijah.

Elijah led him into the next room, closing the door quietly behind them.

"So what actually happened?" Damon asked, draping himself over the chair by the window.

"They got the information we needed," Elijah said.

It was Klaus' idea to use himself as bait to draw out Mikaels. In the motel, shortly before he'd woken Caroline, he and Elijah had mapped out a plan. Klaus would use an old psydoname to stay at a hotel where they knew word would get back to Mikael quickly. Kol and Stefan would stake out the place until his men showed up, and use 'any means necessary' to get the answers they were looking for; namely, Mikael's current condition, his wearabouts, and where he was hiding Rebekah.

"I'm assuming little bro didn't give you anything more than that," Damon said.

Elijah shook his head. "We'll re-group once they get here tomorrow."

"And Katerina?"

The question lingered in the air between them. There was a reason Klaus had tasked himself with finding Katherine, instead of Elijah or the Salvatores. He'd been the only one of them who had distrusted her from the first time they met, and even though Elijah liked to think he had grown wise to her game, in all honesty he wouldn't put it past Katerina to find some new way to mind-fuck him. At least having Klaus on that particular assignment, he knew she stood no chance of getting the upperhand.

"Klaus will deal with her as he sees fit," Elijah finally settled on. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"God, no," Damon scoffed. "That bitch deserves what's coming to her. It's just, in my experience, even if you stop her this time, she'll be back."

"I doubt that will be a problem this time," Elijah said with finality, and Damon nodded his approval.

"How does he plan on keeping that from Blondie?"

"I doubt he plans on keeping it from her at all." While Elijah was quite sure Caroline wouldn't approve, he'd never known Klaus to hide his intentions or actions from anyone. Klaus was quite unapologetic, and had been ever since he was a child.

Damon raised his eyebrows. "He has to know she won't approve."

"It's not any of my concern," Elijah said, feeling himself get frustrated with this particular conversation topic.

The truth was, Elijah has no idea what Klaus was doing.

After they'd worked out their plan, in which Klaus was his usual methodical self, he's immediately made his way over to Caroline. The way he looked at her with such tenderness as he brushed her hair out of her face was so foreign to Elijah he almost did a double take. It was a side of Klaus that Elijah had never seen, which he couldn't help but find worrying.

Caroline seemed like a sweet girl, but she was so young and innocent. She didn't deserve to be dragged into this, and Elijah was sure she had no idea just how far in she already was. He had a feeling that Klaus thought that once he had killed Mikael, he would be able to pursue Caroline and lead a normal life.

Of course, Elijah knew that normal wasn't possible for any of them, not anymore.

Even if he excluded all of the things they'd done in the past, and if he thought that Klaus really could just live a normal life, they were wanted by the police all over the country. Someday, one of them would let their guard down while trying to live a _normal _life and that carelessness would get them caught.

Even if Caroline was willing to live with that risk, that didn't change the fact that Klaus had killed people, and was still planning on adding at least two more names to his list.

Elijah just didn't see a way around it.

l

Rebekah's head was throbbing.

The sensation was so overwhelming she could barely make out the sound of footsteps approching her. She blinked her eyes open owlishly, her vision blurring in and out. She saw a dark figure coming towards her, and sqinted against the bright light coming in from the window to make out who it was.

"Elijah?" she said, her voice cracking from lack of use.

He didn't respond, simply scooped her up in his arms, pressing her into his chest. There wasn't anything comforting about his hold, his body tense and unfamilliar, but Rebekah was too weak to struggle free.

He didn't carry her for long, bringing her into the bathroom before placing her on the floor in front of the toilet. No sooner had he set her down then she was emptying the contents of her stomach, nausea hitting her so suddenly she felt as if she would black out from the force of it.

Her arms rested against the rim of the seat to stabilize herself. She could still feel him lingering behind her though he offered no help. The nausea passed as quickly as it came, and she sunk back against the bathroom wall, wiping her mouth with the back of her shaking hand. She realized that her whole body was shaking, and griped her shoulders with her hands to keep steady.

"Done?"

She looked up, startled by the cold, detached sound of his voice. She could make him out clearly now, and had she not been so weak and exhausted she would have tried to hit him.

"Brady," she croaked, her throat raw. "What are you doing?"

"Get up," he ordered.

She hugged her knees to her chest instead, intent on doing exactly the opposite of what he wanted until he explained to her what was going on. The last thing she remembered was when she was at the house with Elijah.

"I won't ask again."

"Where am I?" she asked stubbornly.

He moved so fast she didn't have time to defend herself, bringing the back of his hand sharply across her face. The force of it sent her sprawling across the floor, and then he was grabbing her by the arms and hauling her back out into the room. He tossed her onto the bed, crawling onto it beside her to fasten her hands to the headboard with a zip-tie. He clutched her neck in one hand, pressing her down against the bed as she struggled to breath.

"You're lucky he wants you alive," he whispered harshly against her ear. She felt the zip-tie cut into her skin as he tightened it, and then he was gone.

She gasped for breath, her eyes watering as she watched him leave the room, slamming the door behind him. She felt sick, her whole body trembling as she began to recognize the room around her. The realization hit her full force when she spotted the painting hanging next to the door, a painting she'd begged Klaus to give her years ago.

She was home.

TBC

A/N - I forgot how much I LOVE writing Elijah, even though I'm pretty sure my version of him is so OOC to the show version. And I figured it was about time we found out what was going on with Rebekah, even though it's not all that nice. Sorry for the long wait between updates, it's been a crazy week. THANK YOU to all you lovely reviewers, and I can't even believe I've hit 300 guys. YOU ARE AWESOME!


	16. Chapter 16

Caroline woke up shivering.

She pulled the comforter tighter around her, gazing around the room with eyes only half opened, to find the door to the balcony wide open and letting in a cool breeze. The sky was still dark, with just a hint of the morning sun warming it. A figure leaned against the railing, looking out over the city, and Caroline had to blink a few times for her eyes to adjust enough to make him out clearly.

Klaus.

She sat up, contemplating calling him back inside, but the words wouldn't come out. Instead she found herself sliding out of bed, kicking off the comforter but dragging the sheet out from underneath to wrap around herself. She checked her reflection in the glass doors, smoothing her hair down with one hand and tucking the sheet tightly into place before making her way out onto the balcony.

Of course, instead of gracefully stepping out and taking up a spot beside him, her feet got caught in the train of the sheet and she stumbled forward.

"Shit!" she cried, catching herself on the doorframe just before she would have face planted. She could feel Klaus watching her, and her hands went to brush her hair out of her face as she righted herself. Naturally this action allowed the sheet to fall helplessly to the ground. "Seriously?!" she muttered, to no one in particular, her hands resting on her hips.

"Come here, sweatheart."

She looked up at his words, her hands dropping to her sides. He'd turned to face her, leaning back against the railing with his arms folded across his chest. She glanced down to the sheet lying across the doorway, deciding against picking it up. Instead she strode over to where he was with what was left of her pride.

She leaned her arms against the railing, keeping a 'safe' distance between them as her thoughts drifted to earlier. She kept her eyes on the city below them as she felt him turn beside her, joining her in overlooking the city. He also managed to eliminate any distance between them, his arm brushing right up against hers. She shivered immediately (from the cold, she told herself), and went to wrap her arms around her middle to keep it from happening again when she felt him move again.

This time he slid into place directly behind her, running his hands down her arms to link his fingers with hers, effectively incasing her arms in his.

"You're freezing," he mumbled into her hair, folding their joined arms across her stomach. She sunk back into him, shivering again as she began to feel the heat emanating from him spread over her. He stiffened momentarily, tightening his hold on her.

"How are you so hot?"

The words were out before she could stop them, and she was immensely grateful that he couldn't see the blush that was working it's way across her face. He didn't bother with an answer, for which she was also grateful.

"So why are you out here?" she asked once some time has passed (and her blush had died down).

He shifted behind her so that her head fell back against his shoulder and she could feel his lips brush against her ear. "Couldn't sleep," he mumbled, clearly exhausted.

"Why not?"

He shook his head gently. "Another night, love."

The lapsed into silence again. Enveloped in his warmth and comforted by the steady rise and fall of his chest against her back Caroline could feel sleep pulling at her, even as the sky began to brighten before them.

"When do we have to leave?" she asked, her voice heavy with sleep.

"Not for a few hours," he replied, "You should go back to sleep.

As tired as she was, the thought of leaving his arms did not appeal to her. "I'm fine."

Apparently she didn't sound as convincing as she'd hoped, as Klaus released her arms and took a step back. He bent down to pick up the discarded sheet, wrapping it around her shoulders before tugging her down onto one of the lounge chairs. He placed his arm around her shoudlers and she tucked herself against his side.

"This is nice," she mumbled.

"Mhmm."

It felt like the calm before a storm.

l

They showed up at half past four, Stefan dragging a half-consious Kol from the car.

They had called moments before, but neither Damon or Elijah had been able to sleep, and both were up and waiting when the car pulled into the garage. Damon took Stefan upstairs immediately to rest, and as per Elijah, instruct him on what not to say in their hosts presence.

Elijah managed to get Kol into the kitchen, where he placed him on the tiled floor. He was bleeding from somewhere and shivering from head to toe, which meant he was most likely in shock and wouldn't be much help.

"Let me see."

Elijah was startled to see Sage breeze into the kitchen, emergency kit in hand. She made quick work of stripping Kol of his jacket and shirt, surveying what looked like damage from a knife fight. It was easy to forget that she used to be involved in their business as well, that Mikael had paid for her to go to nursing school and work for him before she'd run away with Finn.

"Finn?" he asked.

Sage looked up at him briefly, spreading the emergency kit out on the floor. "Asleep."

"He won't like you getting involved."

She smirked, mopping up the excess blood with gauze. "Fortunately he's a heavy sleeper. I'm gonna need you to hold him down while I stitch this up."

Elijah nodded, moving so that he could place both hands on Kol's shoulders. Now that the blood had been cleared away Elijah could see that there were two deep gashes across his stomach. Both were just leaking blood having already partially clotted. Sage went to work immediately stiching him up, and even though Elijah braced himself for movement Kol barely let out a wimper. His eyes held an unhealthy sheen, which could mean one of several things. The worst would be poison, either injected or on the blade that cut him. The better option would be the first signs of infection, but which could still spell disaster for him.

"I have antibiotics under the sink in the bathroom," Sage said before he could even ask, "Just let me tie this off."

She'd finished stiching up the larger gash and tied it off with expert hands before rushing off to the bathroom.

"Rebekah..." Kol mumbled, his voice raspy from disuse.

"She's fine Kol," Elijah whispered. "You'll see her soon."

Damon appeared at the door just as Sage was making her way back in. She held two syringes in hand, a needle, some tubing and a bag of saline.

"One of you needs to hold this up," she said, holding out the bag of saline.

Damon stepped forward, and no sooner had he taken the bag from her then she had ripped open an alcohol swab and was cleaning a spot to insert a line. She grabbed the surgical tape from the emergency kit and ripped off two long strips, placing one over the tubing as she inserted it into his arm, and the other one under and then crossed it over top to hold it in place. She took the first syringe and injected it into the line, then passed the second syringe to Elijah.

"When he starts to come around, he's gonna be in a lot of pain. This goes into the thigh, right in the muscle. Understand?"

"Yes."

She began work on stitching up the second gash, her pace noticeably slower than before. Kol's eyes were closed, his breaths even in sleep.

"Do you miss this?" Damon asked.

Sage laughed. "Patching up you idiots? No."

"But you miss this life," Elijah said.

Sage was silent, and didn't reply until she had tied off the stitching and reached for more gauze to finish dressing Kol's wounds. "Sometimes. I miss the excitement. The way it made every day seem important, because it could be the last. I miss that sometimes."

"I always thought you both decided to leave," Elijah said softly.

She taped down the gauze, pressing lighly to keep from hurting Kol further. Then she looked up, catching Elijah's eye. "Sometimes you have to give up things for the people you love."

Understanding passed between them, perhaps for the first time since they'd met. "Thank you, Sage."

She shrugged, surveying the mess on the floor. "You'll have to clean this up before Finn wakes up. You can keep him in the study for now, just be sure to move him upstairs before morning."

Then she was gone, leaving the boys to clean up their mess.

l

The morning went by quickly once they woke up. Klaus was all business as he got ready, speaking only to give her instruction on the days activities, and give little comments on what she should wear (Caroline was partial to the dress, but Klaus insisted on the skirt and top).

The less he said the more uneasy she felt. When he told her to 'Save the dress for later' there wasn't even a hint of innuendo in his words, which she found particularly troubling. He must have noticed it when they were leaving the room, since he pulled her close to press a comforting kiss against her crown before lacing his fingers with hers and leading her to the elevator.

During ride down, Caroline could feel how tense Klaus was beside her. As he checked them out she picked up on the change in his demeanor and voice. He had a kurt, almost cold, tone that dared anyone who questioned him to do it at their own risk. His shoulders were squared and his back rigid; he looked the very picture of the sort of man you wouldn't want to run into in a dark alley at night. She found herself questioning her place in this whole ordeal more seriously than she ever had before, ruminating on the realities of her situation more clearly. No matter what had transpired between them the night before, the truth was Caroline didn't know if she was really ready to handle all that being with a man like Klaus would entail.

And yet, there was a part of her that thrived on the excitement of the past few days; the idea of going back to a life where football games and cheer practice were the highlights of her day was more than a little off-putting.

By the time they had caught a cab and made it to the restaurant they were supposed to meet Alaric at, Caroline had decided that, at least for now, she was going to worry less and just enjoy it while it lasted. She was sure they'd have time to figure out the details later, once Klaus had dealt with Mikael.

"The reservation is under 'Saltzman'," Klaus said, helping her out of the cab. "He should join you shortly, from what I remember he is quite punctual."

"Will you wait out here?" she asked, glancing over his shoulder at the busy restaurant. She didn't exactly like the idea of going in alone, not least of all because the restaurant in question looked extremely upperclass.

Klaus shook his head. "I'll drive around the block and walk over," the implication of not being seen going unsaid. He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a delicately embroidered clutch. He clicked it open to reveal a brand new set of identification (fake, of course), along with a set of credit cards (hopefully not fake) and a slick new cell phone. He snapped it shut and pressed it into her waiting hands. "If I'm not there in 15 minutes, you excuse yourself to the restroom and call Elijah. His number's already programmed in."

Caroline nodded robotically as he pressed a kiss to her forhead and slid back into the cab. "I'll see you soon," he said, tugging the door closed.

"Wait!" Caroline said, wedging herself between the cab's door before it was fully shut. Klaus's hand dropped to his lap as he looked up at her in bemusement. She leaned down and pressed her lips firmly against his, pulling back just as quickly. "Okay," she said. "Now I can do this."

She barely heard Klaus' laugh as she walked away.

TBC

A/N - I have much to apologize for. The long wait between updates, the shortness of this chapter, the lack of actual plot developement... but hopefully the next chapter will make up for it. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, and continued to review even when it seemed like I'd fallen off the face of the earth. For real, I am back and will be updating regularly :)


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